


Sirens call

by ThornFromARose



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-06
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2018-08-29 12:13:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 24,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8489224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThornFromARose/pseuds/ThornFromARose
Summary: The call of a siren is said to be able to bring the world to a standstill - if only they chose to listen. For Peeta this song begins when he moves into a new apartment, and starts a brand new chapter of his life.





	1. Moving In

**Author's Note:**

> This is a first attempt at writing a fanfic for Katniss & Peeta (be gentle with me). I just love this couple and figured I'd do a different spin on their relationship. I'm making this up as I go along - so not sure where this story ends yet. 
> 
> Obviously I don't own the characters - thats all HG!

“Lift it higher dude!” 

“Gaaah...I am Finn” Hoisting that sofa up four flights of stairs seemed like a good idea at the time. It would’ve been easy had Rye turned up with Finn like he was supposed to, but he was far too drunk to help without causing them, or himself, an injury. Sure Peeta could’ve got an apartment on a lower floor, but the second he entered 4c he knew that this is where he needed to live. The size of the ceilings, the windows and all that natural light – well it just made perfect sense to his artistic soul. “C’mon Peet, just one more flight to go!” Well...it made sense to his artistic soul before he lugged his sofa up various sets of stairs! 

Sweat dripped from his blonde curls into his eyes, and his arms were aching with the weight of the sofa he was carrying. Although Finnick said he was doing his share, Peeta was certain that he was carrying a lot more than half of the sofa. Puffing out his frustration with every step he took, he continued to climb the stairs shakily and prayed that the end was soon in sight. He felt like his grip was loosening on the sofa, “Finn I can’t hold on to this!” Trying to steady himself, Peeta leaned roughly against the wall with a bang while he scrambled to wrap his arms back around his end of the sofa. Steadying his feet behind him he focused on holding on to the sofa with all his might “ Aaargh Finn I really need to let this go!”

"Hold on a sec Peet would ya?!"

A door ahead of them in the corridor suddenly swung open, causing Finn to drop his end of the sofa and Peeta scrambled forward to take the weight of it, balancing his end on his shoulders. “What the heck is going on out here?! Don’t you know people need to get some sleep around here?!” From his position, Peeta could only make out the very top of his new neighbour’s brunette head, and the braid that seemed to curl around the back of it like a crown. Was that lavender he could smell? “Hey pretty lady, we’re really sorry about all the noise out here. My friend here is moving into the apartment down the hall, and well...he’s having a bit of trouble keeping up with me. Name’s Finn, and yours is....” The snort his neighbour gave Finn, followed by the sound of a door slamming made Peeta smirk from behind the sofa. It wasn’t everyday that Finn got rejected by the opposite sex, but Peeta had a feeling that he could get on board with the first woman to reject Finn. “Wow...I like her. That girl has fire!” 

“Finn you like everyone! Now come on, I want to get the rest of this stuff moved some time today” Struggling with his end again, Peeta virtually pushed the sofa the rest of the way through the corridor, earning three loud bangs on the wall from the neighbour he’d managed to piss off without even meeting. “Making friends already Peet?” “Shut it Finn! And open the door would you? This thing weighs a ton!” As soon as the sofa is situated in the open living area, Finn spreads himself out on it and yawns like a cat. “Man, you sure know how to pick the most difficult place to move things into Peet. I mean, I know this is your starter home or whatever, but did it have to have so many stairs?”  
“The stairs are a bitch, but Finn look at the view man. Can you imagine sunset bleeding in through the windows?”

“Okay artist, I get it. The colours, oh the colours! But tell me this, have you thought about the pressure this is going to put on your leg huh?” 

“It’ll be like physio Finn, I’ll take it easy. I’m still getting to grips with the new prosthesis , but I can already tell it’s tons better than the last one. You didn’t see me slow down lifting that sofa did you?”

“Uhmmm, well still. Make sure you take it easy; I know you want your independence and everything, but you don’t want to have a set back. After all you’re now a business owner now you know, plenty of people to disappoint if you can’t make it into work”. Handing Finn a beer, Peeta shrugs his shoulders and smirks, “I’m the boss, and no one works for me yet so I can’t disappoint anyone. Well maybe except my ego”. A generous grin graces Finn’s face, “Ego....does that mean I can convince you to come out tonight? It’s been months since Clove, and I’m worried you’re gonna turn into a virgin again”. Peeta’s smirks falters slightly, and his hand comes up to scrub the back of his neck, “Nah man, I’m just going to enjoy my first night in the new apartment. Try to get a few more things situated”

“Okay man, but it’s your loss. Heard Joanna is on the pull tonight, and you know what she can do with her tongue” 

“Yeah thanks but no thanks Finn – that’s more your speed than mine”

“Beggars can’t be choosers Mellark. Anyways I’m splitting, gotta go make myself look good for the ladies....and maybe a few of the men. Laters Peet” 

“Laters Finn” Peeta mumbles as his friend slams his front door. Two more loud thuds rumble on the wall and Peeta grimaces, yeah what a way to impress the neighbour...


	2. A melody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Music is said to bring out a range of emotions, for Peeta the melody he hears brings about memories of the past...and the possibility of what could come to be...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter explores Peeta a bit more, and sets the scene for our story - hope you enjoy, xo

A few hours later, Peeta decides it’s time to take a break from unpacking his kitchen appliances and actually eat something. He’s been on his feet all day trying to get everything into the apartment, and he’d hardly noticed that he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast...that was until his belly groaned out loud. Limping slightly to the fridge, Peeta grabs out the things to make a sandwich and also grabs another beer. Sauntering over to the sofa with his spoils, he dramatically falls back onto the soft cushions with a quiet thud and stretches out. Swigging his beer casually, he thinks again about what a great place he’s got here. Sure it’d been a long day, but a very good one all things considered. It was only just now his leg was starting to ache a bit, and he knew he’d have to ice it a bit before bed. But still, he can’t help but glance around and think about how lucky he was that this place came up on the market. He’d always wanted to live in a building with high ceilings and lots of natural light. Sure, it wasn’t in the safest of areas in the district, ‘the seam’, but hey – it was reasonably priced and it wasn’t all that far from the bakery he’d recently opened in the slightly better neighbourhood, Merchant. 

Thinking of his bakery he couldn’t help but smile as he watched the sun set through the big windows in the living area, casting everything in a splendour of pink and orange. A bakery of his own! Not even Finn thought that he’d be able to do it after the accident, but he was determined that just because he’d lost his leg, he wasn’t going to lose his passion for food. Learning how to walk on the prosthetic took a lot of time, but he still made it to class everyday (albeit late sometimes) and graduated with honours from culinary school. Casting a lop sided smile at his graduation picture, Peeta leaned back further into his sofa. That was a good day. The laughs; the beers; everyone together and happy for him and what he’d managed to achieve. Well everyone except his mother – but hey, the fact that she’d shown up was a surprise in itself. Although she may not have been smiling in the picture, his dad’s beaming smile more than made up for it! 

Everything really seemed to be coming together for him now. Well almost everything...he was still lacking in one area, but he’d never been too great at keeping his love life afloat while trying to complete culinary school, and working full time hours in various restaurants. Never mind the fact that he now only had one leg…well one and a half really. But thinking about it now, he didn’t regret it for one second, heck it’s why he got to own his own bakery at 24! But boy did he miss having a woman around. Sometimes, he just really felt lonely. Sure he had friends, loads of them really. But it wasn’t the same, they all had people to go home with, and he was just...well alone. 

The chime from his phone alerts him to a message. Extracting it from his pocket, Peeta tisk’d when he realises who it’s from. Clove...again. Without reading the message, Peeta chucks his phone onto the coffee table and leans back. Sure it’d be easy to respond and invite her around for some no-strings fun, but he’s just not that type of guy anymore. They’d dabbled around during college, and sure she helped him with his self esteem after the accident, but they really didn’t have much in common. In fact, the last few times they had been together she’d been downright mean to his friends, and that just wasn’t something he could tolerate. Resting his head on the back of the sofa Peeta decides to have a little snooze. It’s not late enough to go to bed yet, but his eyes were feeling mighty heavy. Yeah, he’d take a small nap on his sofa just for a bit. 

“You know I’d fall apart without you, I don’t know how you do what you do. Cause everything that don’t make sense about me, makes sense when I’m with you....”

Rubbing his eyes, Peeta sits upright on the sofa and realises from the shadows around his living room that the sun is setting. “What’s that?” he mumbles to himself, trying to locate the source of the music. Hearing a guitar playing softly, he shuffles around his apartment trying to get closer to that sweet voice. 

“Cause I wanna wrap you up, wanna kiss your lips, I, wanna make you feel wanted. And I wanna call you mine, wanna hold your hand forever, never let you forget it. Yeah I wanna make you feel wanted...” 

Peeta finally rests against the window to his fire escape, and finds that the source of the sound is a lot stronger here. He tries to open the window a few times, but quickly realises its sealed shut – definitely something he neglected to look at properly when he brought the apartment. He contents himself with listening to the voice of the singer, soft and sultry in the night sky. As the song fades out, the strumming seamlessly moves into a beautiful melody – one that he’s never forgot ever since the very first time he heard it sung as a child. “Down in the valley, the valley so low. Hang your head over, hear the wind blow...” The Valley song. Gosh he hadn’t heard that since he was in school. Just like he hadn’t seen it’s singer since school.

Katniss Everdeen. 

If there was ever a girl more perfect, he was convinced she couldn’t exist. She was the dark to his light, the scowl to his smile, and the sheer magnificence to his ordinary. From kindergarten to the end of school, he’d been on the peripheral of her life. Too shy and scared to approach her, she was just too beautiful, and he was...well he was him. She’d never so much as glanced at him, other than those two times. God, the bread! What a stupid move. Sure she’d gotten really slim after her father’s death, and he’d heard rumours that she’d taken to hunting to provide for her little sister and mother...but the way she’d looked at him the day after he’d left some loaves on her doorstep. Let’s just say he’d always found it easy to look into people’s eyes, but somehow she knocked the wind out of him and he couldn’t stop staring at the floor. When he finally found the courage to look up she was gone...and that’s pretty much how the rest of their interactions went throughout high school. Peeta looking, and Katniss disappearing. That was until that night... 

The music stops suddenly, and breaks Peeta from his train of thought. Yawning loudly he decides it’s time to call it a night and makes his way to his bedroom, and its blow up mattress. Deciding to forgo the shower, he pushes off his sweats and t-shirt and settles straight into bed. As he gets comfortable and drifts off to sleep, he finds that he’s unable to dream of anything other than glossy brown hair tied in a braid, and grey...the same colour of a storm as it brews.


	3. Chance encounters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peeta finally encounters his song bird.....just not in the way you'd expect. Their chance meeting brings about a memory, a vision and hope to all romantics that maybe somewhere there is someone out there for all of us.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys would like me to include anything - just give me a shout and I'll see if I can incorporate something into this story and wherever it may take us - xo

Walking through the corridor early the next morning, Peeta smells the faint scent of lavender all through the corridor. The smell itself is captivating, and reminds him of something, but it’s far too early for him to get his thoughts together. As he rides down in the elevator, which is far too small for the 6 person capacity that’s listed, he starts to hum the valley song. This takes him back to his childhood, and the sweetheart that never knew just how much she was loved by him. Thinking about this, he becomes so distracted that he almost walks into a small person who’s swamped under a basket of washing. “I’m so sorry” he murmurs trying to steady the person, who shakes him off quickly.   
“It’s fine” a curt musical voice replies, side stepping him with a grace he’s immediately envious of, before walking down the corridor quickly. The only part of the person he sees before the doors close are the long olive legs encased in denim cut off shorts. Sure, he might pride himself on being a gentleman, but he’s always been attracted to long tan legs. Those legs were pretty much perfect he thinks, especially that cute beauty spot right behind the curve of her thigh. He is so enamoured with that cute mark, he doesn’t even manage to look beyond it before a door closes behind them. The shutting of the elevator door makes him jump, and push his blonde curls off his forehead. “Get it together” he murmurs to himself before turning and walking out of the entrance. 

Arriving at his bakery Peeta looks through the bay windows and grins to himself. He’s done it. It might have taken years to save up for the deposit, but he’s finally got a place of his own and a bakery. Everything she said he couldn’t do – he’s only gone and done it. It makes him feel so proud that he actually feels like he walks a little straighter and taller now. Opening the door, he walks straight over to the buckets of paint he’d brought, and turns up the radio to full whack. This is going to be fun! 

It’s around 3pm when Peeta finally puts the paint brush down. Smudging the pale orange he’s painted the entryway with across his forehead, he looks around his bakery smiling. He can visualise how great it’s going to look at the grand opening next week. He’s managed to gut the place, install the new ovens and paint the kitchen and entryway, but there is still so much more he needs to do. Making himself a cup of tea he shuffles across the kitchen and thinks about the recipes he’s taken from his father that he can’t wait to re-create. He’s so excited for the place to smell like fresh bread and cakes, instead of the paint and varnish he’s been using today. Turning off the portable radio, he rinses out the mug and decides to close up shop so he could head to the market before it closes. It’s a Sunday after all, things quiet down around four and he’d really like to have a home cooked meal tonight. 

Whistling to himself through the aisles he manages to buy far more than he needs for the week, but is happy that he finally has a kitchen to himself to try out different recipes. Arriving in the apartment building he decides to check for any mail, and notices that there is a package for 4d outside of his mailbox. He balances it between his grocery bags and rides the elevator thinking about whether he fancies pizza or chicken for dinner. Knocking on the green door of 4d Peeta holds his breath, knowing that he probably hasn’t made the best impression on his neighbour. He is surprised when a very pretty red head opens the door, with piercing sea green eyes. “Hi, I’m urm your neighbour and this package was waiting for you downstairs”. He grimaces slightly when he realises he probably sounds entirely too keen, but smoothes his face out into his trademark grin.   
“Oh, thank you for bringing it. Kitty isn’t in at the moment, but I’ll take it for her” she says reaching forward for the package. 

“Thanks. My names Peeta by the way, I’ve just brought 4c down the hall”. The small red head smiles slightly and shakes his hand awkwardly as he tries to readjust his shopping bags, “Annie. I don’t live in the building, but I pretty much am with Kitty most of the time”. She smiles at Peeta shyly and begins to rub her arm as if this conversation is making her a bit nervous. Sensing that it would be a good time to wrap things up, Peeta shuffles his bags to get a better grip on them. “Ah cool. Well listen, have a good evening and hopefully I’ll see you around” Peeta gives his friendliest smile, and shuffles down the corridor to start cooking. 

Later that evening, just as Peeta is tidying up his kitchen he hears that same sweet voice singing with a guitar again. This time the song is so hauntingly sad, he can’t help but stare up at the moon through his window. 

“Deep in the meadow, under the willow. A bed of grass, a soft green pillow. Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes. And when you awake, the sun will rise....” 

The song conjures an image in his mind, so vivid he’s certain that he must’ve been there before. A meadow appears in his mind, the tall grass peppered with small flowers in blues and purple. The sky is a gorgeous pink colour, and a willow tree at the top of the meadow bends slightly in the breeze causing leaves to fall. He sees a woman resting against the tree in the distance, tanned legs crossed at the ankles. He can’t see her face, but he’s certain they’ve met before. Her dress is raised slightly as she nestles a guitar to her chest. Her hums carry across the breeze to him, and he feels like he’s it’s just for him. She slowly begins to strum a few chords, and the melody she plucks out of the guitar is the same that is playing now. 

Peeta stays completely still until the song has finished, holding onto the image his mind has envisioned. He’s not even sure he breathes while she was singing. In fact he’s pretty sure the whole city has gone quiet to hear the singer and her melody. He can’t hear any traffic, any talking, he’s sure that not even the birds would dare to chirp. Resting his head on the window he exhales slowly, thinking to himself he could stay there, right there in that moment and be happy forever.


	4. Grand Opening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to open the bakery - cue an awkard interaction between Finn and Annie...

“Finn come on man, pick up the pace!” Peeta moans, while stretching dough across the countertop as thin as he can get it. “We’ve still got to get through these breadsticks; the cheese buns; the lamb stew needs to be flavoured; we gotta ice those cakes cooling there; make the donuts and the hot chocolate...”Feeling a thud on his back, he turns around to see a small mound of dough fall on the floor. “Quit it Finn, that could’ve been a breadstick”

“Yes my liege” Finnick grins widely and bows with one arm behind his back. “Gosh Peet, you’ve been so stressed lately I really don’t know if making this much is a good idea”. Peeta continues to stretch the dough, but acknowledges Finn’s worry with a sigh and a frown. “Listen, I know you think I’m going overboard, but I just...I have to give this my all you know? It has to be a success, I really cannot afford for it not to be. I’ve put everything I have into this bakery and the apartment, and you know how much this means to me. How much it’ll mean to my dad...” A firm palm comes to rest on Peeta’s shoulder giving him a much needed squeeze. “Peet, you know it’s going to be success. Who can resist that face?? More importantly who can resist your buns ay?!” he says making a swipe for Peeta’s pert behind. “Ay Finn, hands to yourself!”

“Oooooooh sensitive are we?”Peeta just gives Finn a pointed stare, and returns to the dough. “Okay bread boy...I think you’re over thinking this. You’ve been advertising this opening on every social media platform, you canvassed every building for 8 blocks with flyers, and the food and drinks are going to be free. Who’s going to resist that, hmmmm?”   
Peeta smiles lop sided and leans to his left side a little to take the pressure off of his leg. Sure, he knows that Finn and basically everyone he knows think he’s wasting a ton of money having a free event. But he just knows once he gets people through the door and tasting his stuff, he’s going to really take off. His bakery will be a success. Dammit he would be success, and no one, not even his mother or his leg was going to stand in his way. Looking up and away from the dough he smirks at Finn, “Sorry man, I know I’m stressing out here. Why don’t you take a break and I’ll get these in the oven and join you?”

“Yeaaaah that’s more like it pretty boy! Hey if you stay on my good side like this, I might just be your wing man tonight” 

Rolling his eyes comically, Peeta takes the time to look up from the dough, “Finn you’d be my wing man any night I’d let you” Pretending to look insulted Finn stomps out, before popping his head back around the corner, “Damn right I would” he laughs before turning up the radio to full blast. 

A few short hours later, the bakery is absolutely heaving – there are so many people there that they are practically congregating in the kitchen, and pouring outside onto the veranda and pavement. Although he’s clearly over capacity, the atmosphere is electric and everyone seems to be having a really good time. Peeta listens in on people’s conversations and hears moans of delight as people take up sample after sample of his food. He’s fairly certain he’s about to run out of things soon, but he can’t find it in himself to care. People came, they’d been busy since opening the doors this evening, and everyone was complimenting his food, and hot chocolate. He doesn’t want to get too excited, but he has a pocket full of numbers from companies who are excited to use him for gourmet sandwiches and such. Although it wasn’t quite what he had in mind for his bakery, he figures he can charge a small premium for them and make a small profit. 

He’s been talking to a group of women for the past 10 minutes who’ve been complimenting him on his stew amongst other things, when he sees vibrant red hair enter the door. Excusing himself politely, he crosses the room and gives the girl from the apartment a half-hearted wave. “Hey, great to see you” he practically shouts above the noise in the room, noticing that she looks a lot more relaxed today despite being surrounded by so many people. “Hey Peeta, great hot chocolate” she says gesturing to the cup in her hand, “you’ll have to tell me what you add to it to make it so...I don’t even know if there’s a word for it”. 

Brushing his hand against the back of his neck Peeta prickles slightly under the praise, “Urm, if I told you that secret I’d have to kill you”, and laughs awkwardly to hide his discomfort. An arm suddenly winds its way across his shoulders, and he relaxes a little knowing the attention will be off of him shortly. “Now, you don’t mean that do you Peety boy? Surely you wouldn’t hurt Ms...” Finn’s voice trails off as his eyes flicker to Annie’s, and he stares at her open mouthed. Seconds tick by, and Peeta notices that Annie appears to be getting uncomfortable by the way she looks down and away from Finn. Coughing gently Peeta pats Finn on the shoulder, shaking him out of his silent appraisal of the pretty red head. “Annie this is Finn, my best friend. He helped me get things together for the opening”. 

“Oh, are you a baker too?” Finn flushes at her question, and rubs his elbow to try and mask his embarrassment. “Urm no, I er, no I’m not a baker”. 

“That’s a shame...Kitty would totally love this place, she’s a massive foodie”

“Aah is she not coming tonight. I kinda wanted to apologise for all the noise I made when I moved in”, despite his best efforts not to, he reddens slightly at the memory and runs a hand through his messy curls.

“No, she had to work tonight. She has mentioned that she thinks you’re part elephant, with the amount of noise you make stomping around the apartment”. Peeta flushes even more, knowing that he’s not been taking it easy on his prosthetic lately, which causes him to clump heavily as he walks. Sensing his discomfort, Annie places a hand on his arm and smiles, “Kitty can forgive almost anything for good food. Just let her have one of those cheesy bun things and all will be well...anyways, I’m going to see if there is any food left, see ya round Peeta, Finn”. 

After a beat, Finn exhales and wipes his hands over his face before turning to his best friend, “That’s the future Mrs Odair right there Peet”.

“How many times have I heard that before Finn?” Peeta laughs, and walks off to mingle with the crowd some more, leaving his normally confident friend staring off into the direction Annie had walked off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all my readers for your kind comments and kudos - I promise you that this slow burn is going to get some Everlark moments coming - ;) xo


	5. Friend Request

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A facebook friend request reveals some things...

After he gets home that evening, he takes off his prosthetic and sighs with relief. It’d been really rubbing his joint today, and with all the rushing around he’s sure the sweating he must’ve done hasn’t helped matters much. Taking his crutch from the cupboard, he moves over to the freezer and takes out an ice pack to relax his leg. It might hurt to apply the frosty pack, but he knows if he doesn’t he’s going to hurt even more in the morning and there is just too much he needs to get ready for Monday. 

Sitting down on the coach, he tries to recall all the fabulous moments of the day. Aside from Finn’s awkward encounter with Annie, he’d made some good business introductions, and had met two brilliant people who seemed to have a real interest in working in the bakery. Although he was a little intimidated by the enormous size of the man named Thresh, he was astounded with his sensitive comments about the food and more so with his delicate palate. He’d never have guessed that someone would’ve been able to breakdown the sauce of his lamb stew so easily, just from a small sample. Hell, he’d even managed to guess Peeta’s secret last minute additions of dark chocolate and plumbs, and anyone who could distinguish the components of sauce deserved a shot in his book. 

Then there was little Rue. He remembered her fondly from school, and not a whole lot had changed about her in appearance. She was still truly tiny, and her tight curls were still parted in the middle and framing her face. He remembers her being a fantastic rock climber and her best friend who she used to be thick as thieves with, Primose Everdeen. He has fond memories of watching them play about in the field when he was in wrestling practice in the gym. He would practice his moves staring out of the windows hoping to catch a glimpse of Katniss, who was more often than not running track in those little short shorts of hers. While he’d liked to imagine that it was her special way of teasing him and his teenage hormones, he knew quite frankly that Katniss couldn’t afford to buy another pair, not when she used all of spare her money towards bills. It was one of the things he loved most about her, she put others first. 

Sadly when he brought up Primrose, Rue’s face saddened and she’d whispered that she wasn’t around anymore. Figuring that they may’ve had a falling out, Peeta steered the conversation back to the bakery, and offered her a trial to start the following week. While it was only part time hours, it was perfect to fit around her college schedule.  
Checking his phone, he saw a new friend request on facebook. Seeing Annie’s name and profile picture pop up he smiled, she’d posed by a sea shore smiling back from the sea. She really was pretty...he couldn’t wait to wind up Finn by accepting her request. He decides to have a quick look through her pictures before taunting Finn, when he comes across a pair of tanned legs he’s seen before. Although it’s just her legs and feet buried in the sand, alongside a pale pair of legs he assumes are Annie’s, he knows it’s her. The lovely olive skin on her muscled legs he won’t forget in a hurry, and although he feels slightly pervy, he takes a minute to scan the picture until he spots her small beauty spot. 

The same girl appears in a few other pictures, some look to be on a camping trip and others by the beach. Always her face is turned away from the camera as if she doesn’t actually want her picture to be taken, but he knows it’s her from her dark wavy hair. There is one picture he hesitates on for a while, having a sense of déjà vu. The dark haired girl is half hidden by a tree, and there appears to be a guitar strap nestled against her leg as she looks out into the distance. Although he can’t see her face, he feels connected to this picture somehow, like he’s been there before. Unfortunately the background is blurred out, but he does notice how the contrast picks out the varying colours of brown that fleck in her hair which cascades down her back like a waterfall. Sadly she’s not tagged in any of the pictures, but he surmises that the dark haired girl is none other than his neighbour, the illustrious Kitty, or his ‘siren’ as he’s taken to calling her after listening to her night concerts. 

Although it’s far too late for his siren to be singing this evening, Peeta saunters over to the newly repaired fire escape window and looks out at the view. He can’t help but think about the songs she sings, they all seem to be about longing and searching. Such sad songs really, at least for a girl whose voice seems to make the city stop.  
Moving slowly to the bedroom, he decides on a quick shower before settling himself down for the night. He needed to pop into the bakery tomorrow to get a head start on Monday’s products, and to do another clean up of the mess his customers had left behind. Just as he tucks himself into bed, he receives a message from Annie on messenger. 

Hey Peeta, thanks again for this evening – your food is amazing :D

...I know it’s a bit forward, but my friend Kitty has a gig coming up and I’d really like to be able to bring a bit of a crowd with me to support her. I don’t suppose you and Finn would want to come? 

Peeta responds almost instantly, Of course, that’d be great ;) 

He receives an invite shortly after for the gig next week, downtown in District 13. It’s a well known bar which hosts open-mic nights, and some local artists have been signed after performing there. He accepts the invite, and briefly reviews the ‘going’ list to see if he can find the siren herself. Unfortunately he doesn’t find any picture that looks like her, and gives up his search. 

Using the light from his phone, he locates the painting he did a few nights ago when he last heard the siren sing. He’d heard the melody start softly, and smiled to himself realising that he was in for another concert that evening. It wasn’t every evening he’d been home early enough to hear her sing, but he’d left the bakery early so he could relax and have an early night. As her hands pick over the chords in quick succession, he sees an image so clear in his mind, he thinks he would be able to draw it....that’s it, I’ll paint it.  
Shuffling towards his hallway cupboard using his crutch, Peeta carefully takes out some of his painting materials. Although he hasn’t used them since college, he’s able to set up his easel in no time at all. Carefully decanting some colours, he decides to just paint without sketching anything first. It’s been so long he probably wouldn’t be any good anyways. 

He finds that he’s so lost in the music he literally hasn’t thought about what he’s painted, until it’s staring at him from the canvas. He can practically feel the longing in the picture, the same longing he feels from the siren’s melodies – it’s so potent he finds himself winded momentarily as his blue eyes take in the image before him. He stares at the painting, taking in the meadow he’s been dreaming about for some time. He knows it instantly, from the outline of the tree in the background, its leaves roughly defined by the paint strokes. Although it’s a rough image that will need to be tidied up, he can feel the rawness of his emotions in it and knows that it’ll be good once it’s finished. He can imagine painting in the sunset, casting a soft glow atop the tall grass, spreading pinks and oranges until they blur into a colour he doesn’t have a name for. 

It’s at that moment he thinks of her. Running through the meadow, laughing with her arms stretched open running her fingers through the grass. Her hair is rippling in the breeze, and fanning out as she pumps her legs to push herself further and further into the meadow. He can see it so clearly, his heart begins to race as if he’s actually chasing her himself. He tries continually to catch up to her, but honestly even if he still had his other leg, there’d be no way he could catch up with her. She moves like fire, quick; fluid; climbing and swirling and he’s certain that if he ever did catch her he’d be burnt up too. She stops by the willow tree and begins humming a tune that he’s heard her sing several times over. This time however the hum makes the tune more eerie and haunting and he struggles to breathe as tears form in his eyes. She lays a daisy crown of flowers at the foot of the willow, and slowly rises up as she finishes her song. Once she’s done, her arms wrap around herself, like she’s holding herself together. He tries to get closer to her, but as he gets near the tree she runs away from him, from the meadow and into the trees beyond. He can’t explain why he feels so sad that she’s left him, he doesn’t even know her after all. But the feeling in his chest is unmistakably one of longing. Looking down at the daisy crown, he notices that it’s not daisies. The flowers aren’t those sweet adornments that you’d see girls wear in their hair in summer, the crown laid at the roots of the willow are in fact Primroses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you guys for your patience - I hope you can guess what I'm hinting at throughout the chapter. I'm currently crafting the next chapter and there will be something to look forward too ;) xo


	6. Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After listening to her songs for so long and being inspired once more to pursue his love of art, Peeta finally meets the source of his inspiration

His first week being open had been nothing but a success, and the weeks after had kept him so busy that he’d practically collapsed into his bed when he got in. The bakery was selling out of things faster than he could make them, and having Thresh, Rue and occasionally Finn and Rye to help him was a god send. He’d finally gotten into a routine, which was necessary since there was always a small queue outside the door when they opened in the mornings. He’d become the go to store for a pastry and hot drink in the morning for the commuters, and was so grateful that Finn had gifted him a fancy coffee machine that could keep his customer satisfied. He’d honestly never thought to buy a coffee machine when he was opening, not that he had anything against coffee; he was just more of a tea drinker himself. 

Checking the time, he smiled at the small lull they’d always come to experience after the morning rush. Throwing his apron in the washing machine, he stuck his head around the door to wish Thresh and Rue a good day. He’d noticed that they’d taken to having quiet conversations when the bakery was quieter, and thought that Thresh was definitely keen on little Rue. Looking at how close they were standing together right now, he smiled to himself, maybe she liked him too. Wishing them a good day, he was practically shooed out of the bakery by Rue who made him promise to enjoy a night off for a change. 

Walking home, he decided that if he had any chance of staying awake during the gig he’d need to take an afternoon nap. He’d agreed to meet Finn and Annie at the venue a half hour before the singing would start. As much as he’d wanted to tease Finn about the friend request he’d received from Annie, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not that it would’ve made much of a difference anyway, the second Finn noticed that they were mutual friends on Facebook, he’d sent Annie a friend request and they’d been talking online ever since. He had to give it to his friend; he certainly seemed to come out his shy spell when he first noticed Annie. He still couldn’t believe that Finn was still so taken with Annie, especially when they weren’t hooking up. He had nothing against his friend, he just knew he was a womaniser and Annie didn’t seem the type to be interested in ‘fun’. But they’d been in constant contact since that night, and Finn genuinely seemed like he was starting to experience a meaningful relationship, instead of lust. 

After having a nap, Peeta reluctantly got up to hop in the shower. He debates on an outfit and he stands in his bedroom, dripping water everywhere from his blonde curls. Finally deciding to go casual, he slips into a nice pair of dark jeans, a soft grey jumper and boots. Although it’s not the smartest outfit he owns, he figures he should make some sort of effort for the gig. He doesn’t bother to do anything with his hair, knowing that his curls are unruly at the best of times, and instead just pushes them off his forehead. Pocketing his wallet and keys on the way out, he makes his way downtown enjoying the last rays of the sun while it sets. 

Entering the venue, Peeta is shocked to see how packed the venue is. He only just spots Annie’s red hair under the lights, and hopes that Finn would’ve had the good sense to have scored them a place to sit earlier. Ordering himself a beer at the bar, Peeta makes his way across the room determined to ignore the pulsing in his leg. Catching to Finn and Annie, he falls into an easy conversation with the both of them. They watch the first few acts, and Peeta is dumbstruck by how professional they all seem. They all sing their own material, and play their own instruments and he’s honestly impressed with how seamless they are. Suddenly he notices Annie start hollering and clapping, and the crowd gets louder applauding the next act whos name he’s missed through Annie’s screaming. He smirks figuring that it’s Kat coming onto stage, and he turns to face the front to get a glimpse of the siren he’s been listening too for weeks. 

At first the lights are off so he doesn’t see her properly, but he can make out her small figure walking across the stage fluidly, and a large guitar appears to be clouding her figure. A single spotlight slights up the chair she’s climbing onto, and she takes her time situating the guitar that appears far too big for her. Her face is hidden by her dark hair, and although he can only see the side of her face from where he is sitting, he can tell already that whoever Kat is, she is one beautiful woman. She begins to pick at the chords of her guitar, and her voice begins to hum rendering the crowd silent. 

Kat appears lost in the melody already, and he can finally see that it’s not just her voice and melodies that create the heart wrenching music, it’s her. Her whole being seems to become the song, as it floats across the crowd like a bird in flight and the crowd is silent, feeling her song. After the final chords play out, the applause is almost thunderous. He can feel it vibrating through his whole body, and he joins in with the crowd, glad to finally be able to thank her for her music which has kept him company for weeks. She doesn’t say anything in response to the crowd, only begins her next melody seamlessly....

“I've been here in this place...I've been stuck in this space...Like a ghost that's been missing its life  
Silent words in my mouth...Yeah, they want to scream out...”

He’s never heard her sing this song before, and he’s certain there isn’t a single soul that could sing this song after her. Although some people are recording her, he cannot seem to move, to breathe. He just feels...every emotion he’s felt over the years from when he lost his leg, and even before seem to bubble to the surface hearing her sing. He’s not sure why, but he feels even more strongly watching her sing, and he’s certain in that moment he’d give anything to see her properly. 

“I'll go, but I won't go quietly  
Go down, but I'll go down fighting  
Don't know where, don't know why  
But I can't go back, back to the way I was  
I'll show who I am from the inside  
Gonna take my walk on the wild side  
Don't know where, don't know why  
But I can't go back, back to the way I was”

The song itself transports Peeta back to another time and place. So many years ago, but he remembers every detail as if it was yesterday. Prom night. 

She’d come in this beautiful forest green dress, unlike any of the dresses he’d seen that evening. There was something so different about it; it was elegant, more mature than anything he’d seen her in, and although it was dated, it looked timeless almost to him. From the colour, to the way it hugged her small frame perfectly and flowed to the floor like a waterfall. While he’d spent is evening with his friends, dancing sometimes, he always made sure she was in his eye line. Although she hadn’t danced with Gale all evening, he was still by her side like a shadow. 

Just as Peeta was about to call it a night, he watched Gale get up to dance with Madge leaving Katniss by herself. Downing the watered down punch he decided he had nothing to lose by asking her to dance. If she said no, well – he didn’t really want to think about that right now. Straightening his tie and pushing back his curls which had left their gelled back style hours ago, he walks purposefully over to her table. At the last second she looks in his direction, appearing shocked. He doesn’t hesitate however, and pushes forward with a bravery he doesn’t actually have. 

Clearing his throat he smiles at her, “You having a good night Katniss?”

Eyeing him suspiciously her scowl widens slightly, before she answers softly, “No. I can’t say that I am.”

“And why’s that?” he asks nervously.

“I didn’t want to come” she answers plainly, before crossing her arms across her chest. He flushes slightly when he realises this pushes the swell of her breasts up, and he can see a bit of tan line from where she must’ve caught the sun in the woods. 

“You want to maybe dance?” he asks softly, waiting for the rejection he’s sure will follow. Seconds pass as his heart slams into his ribcage, so hard he’s sure she can hear it from across the table. “Why not” she shrugs. 

As he makes his way around the table he wipes his sweaty palms on his trousers discreetly, hoping that she won’t notice. He gently takes her small hand in his large one, and marvels at the small calluses she has that he’d never noticed. As he turns towards the dance floor, she pulls her hand back. “No” she says loudly, and he feels his face collapse into the sadness he instantly feels at her rejection. “No, I mean, not out there...I, urm, prefer the shadows” she says softly, like she’s afraid to speak too loudly. 

She walks into him after that, and after freezing for a moment he takes the opportunity to fold his arms around her waist loosely. Her arms sneak up around his neck, and her head finds its place in the crook of his neck. He’s suddenly surrounded by her scent, and it overwhelms him. She smells like pine, a fresh breeze and a hint of lavender. Although he’d tried to figure out her perfume over the years, he realises that this was a mistake. She doesn’t wear perfume; she just has her own unique smell. He’s certain he’ll never smell anything like it, and he doesn’t want too. They sway slowly to the beat of the song, and he wills himself to not forget a single second of this moment. 

The band stops playing for a short break, and in the absence of a song she begins to hum a melody so softly he has to hold his breath to hear her properly. Although she doesn’t sing any words, he’s certain he’d never forget this melody. He won’t forget this night, this dance, this moment for as long as he lives. 

He finally registers that they’ve stopped moving, and she’s looking at him with those grey eyes that resemble molten silver at the moment. Her grey eyes stare into his heated, and he’s knows that he’s unlikely to see anything so beautiful as long as he lives. He can see her lips forming words, but can’t hear anything other than the sudden thunder of applause throughout the hall. He tries in vain to stop her arms from unwinding from his neck, as she steps away from him. He’s about to take a step towards her when an arm finds its way across his shoulders. “You did it man, congrats!” Registering Cato he turns his head to his wrestling team mate, and stares at him open mouthed. “Prom King, you’ve won!” 

Shrugging off his arm, Peeta turns back to where she stands...stood. She wasn’t there anymore, and it takes him a while to register anything else as he stares at the spot he managed to hold her in his arms, and pretend for once in his life that he could deserve someone as good as her. 

Coming back from his daydream, he notices that the siren is about to begin her third and final song for the night. The melody again begins from nowhere, and as it grows he feels like his heart has stopped. He’d heard this tune before, only once and never since then. His hands grasp at the table as he struggles to control his emotions as they hit him like a force field, and he desperately looks at the singer hoping she can tell him what he needs to hear. 

“Maybe I'm alone out here and nobody's listening  
Maybe I'm the only one and my voice is echoing  
But what if I'm wrong and there's a million others just like me  
And no, we're not alone, alone  
We can be alone together  
And no, we're not alone, alone  
We can feel alone together...”

As the song finishes, Peeta finds he’s finally able to draw in precious breaths. If he was honest with himself he hadn’t realised he’d been holding his breath, but he feels winded. Everything feels magnified at that moment. Although he can hear the crowd applauding around him, and Annie’s enthusiastic screams, he can’t bring himself to move.  
As the singer turns and climbs off the stool she flicks her curtain of hair away from her face displaying a lovely face, and a perfect cupid’s bow of full lips. He grips the table tighter as he notices her eyes lift up and out the crowd, displaying a beauty that he’s known since he was a child. Her eyes scan the crowd, and she appears to smile gently at Annie who is hollering like crazy with an equally enthusiastic Finn beside her. 

Suddenly her eyes flit towards him, and he is trapped in her gaze as confusion slowly turns to recognition. Grey clashes with blue, and he fights with himself to smile, to wave, to do anything really. He finds that all his body will allow him to do is reel off the one thought in his head, in his heart, and the name on his lips...“Katniss?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for all your feedback and kudos - I've purposefully made this chapter longer to give you what you've been asking for, hope you like it - xo
> 
> p.s. lyrics are Jem and the Holograms (again I own nothing!)


	7. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the songbird appears...but does she belong to our boy?

Peeta’s ears are thrumming with the sounds of applause, but he’s trapped in this stare off as he looks at the girl he’s spent most of his life dreaming about. Although it feels like hours, they’ve probably only been staring at each other for seconds and he’s so disappointed when her eyes flit away and she acknowledges the crowd with a small wave and barely there smile. He watches her every movement thereon, from the way she stands and slings the too big guitar onto her back, and the way she seems so uncomfortable now. He smirks as the host tries to get her to say a bit about herself, and she shrugs before commenting “I’m an open book”. 

Peeta smirks at this statement and stops himself short of laughing, knowing that there couldn’t be anything further from the truth. Katniss Everdeen is an enigma. Even watching her from afar for over a decade growing up, he could only really tell you a few things about her that he knows to be absolute truth. She’s a survivor; she loves her sister more than anything in the world; she works ridiculously hard to complete high school while working and hunting to provide for her family; and her scowl is an almost permanent fixture on her face. The rest, well if he’s being honest with himself he’s probably imagined. He had plenty of time growing up to imagine how she’d be if he got to know her. 

Initially his thoughts were innocent, they’d share his lunch and he’d give her the bigger part of his cookie if she agreed to be his friend. They’d play in the park, he’d push her on the swings and his dad would take them to feed the ducks together, using some old bread from the bakery. As he matured and those pesky teenager years started, admittedly his hormones changed those innocent thoughts to something less savoury. He’d spent years dreaming about how her lips would feel against his, how her skin would feel as his large hands would stroke her olive skin...he coloured slightly when he thought about some of the fantasies he’d had of her, and the sketchbook he’d practically devoted to drawing her. 

In reality however, the truth was aside from those fundamental things, there was very little he actually knew about her. He had no idea what had happened to her after that night. The accident happened the same night on the way home, with Cato driving recklessly before the car hit a truck...and well there wasn’t much time for seeing anyone after that. While he hated to admit it to himself, Peeta really did struggle after losing his leg. All of his thoughts were dark, and his once sunny disposition disappeared for a while. When he’d finally returned home, a lot of people had moved away for college already and he had no way of contacting her. He’d not seen her mum or sister in the bakery either, but as he was receiving out-patient rehabilitation treatment he didn’t really have the ability to leave the house all that much. When he finally managed to walk again, he made his way to culinary school a semester late and tried not to think of that night. 

Bringing himself back to the present, he sees Katniss smile at the crowd. He senses a lack of sincerity behind the half smile she gives, like she’s embarrassed now that she’s no longer singing in the silence of the room. He could remember a time when she’d sung with no embarrassment, and a confidence that belied her years. It was on the day he met her, and what had begun his fascination with her in the first place. 

He remembers his dad taking his small hand in his that morning as he walked him to school. They’d packed his lunch together, and his dad had put a few cookies in his lunch box in case he made some friends that day. They’d entered the playground of the school, when Peeta came to a stop really nervous. His brothers had been teasing him for a while telling him that he wouldn’t make any friends and he so desperately didn’t want them to be right. He told his father as much, his chubby cheeks becoming pink with nerves. His father placed a big hand on his shoulder and gave him a warming squeeze that instantly made him feel better. 

“Son, anyone would be lucky to be your friend. Why you’re my very best friend Peety, you know that right?”

“That’s different pop. You have to like me”. His father’s booming laugh circles around him as he takes in his childish charm. “Peety, look over there. You see that girl?”. Peeta’s little eyes scan the playground until they settle on a little girl with dark hair in two braids, in a plaid red dress. Her smile stretches across her face as she runs ahead of a tall man he assumes is her father, before running back and grabbing his hand to pull him along. “I was going to marry her mother once”. 

“Why didn’t you pop?” 

“Because she fell in love with another man”. Peeta’s face scrunched up in confusion, who was better than his pop? He could make anything food, hot chocolate, even the tree house in the backyard by the apple tree. 

“But dad, how come?” His dad laughs at his childish language, and thinks of the easiest way to explain this to his youngest. 

“Because Peety, when he sings even the birds stop to sing”. 

Peeta didn’t fully understand his father’s sentiment until he’d gone into the classroom and settled down in his chair. When the teacher had asked if anyone knew the Valley song, her hand had shot right up before she’d climbed onto her chair and cleared her throat with a maturity that belied her age. Once she’d opened her mouth, he heard the sweetest sound and he was enraptured from them on. He only looked away once she’d finished singing, and as he looked outside he noticed that even the birds in the trees had stopped tweeting. 

As a child he could remember her singing freely after that, when he’d seen her across the square running ahead of her parents and little sister; or when they had music lessons at school she was always first in line to sing any melody she could. That all stopped when her father suddenly passed away, and he’d watched her smiles fade into the scowls that seemed to permanently etch her face. 

Shaking off those sad thoughts, he brings himself back into the moment. His heart is still slamming into his ribcage, and although he’s had many years to think of what to say to her, none of those things came to his mind right now. Unfortunately things don’t happen quite the way Peeta had envisioned. In fact things don’t happen the way he’s thinking at all. Peeta doesn’t even get the chance to speak to her, as soon as she is getting down off the stage she is wrapped up in a pair of large arms that twirl her around. From the height and dark colour of his hair and tanned skin, Peeta is sure he can assume who it is already. 

Gale fucking Hawthorne. 

Some things don’t change he thinks, as he downs the rest of his drink before stalking off into the night, ignoring his friends shouting his name, trying to forget the way his heart sinks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't fret my lovelies, the next chapter brings some joy for Everlark ;)


	8. Lavender

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after the night before

The sun rise filters through the blinds and hits directly on Peeta’s face. His arm slowly rises before flopping down across his eyes to stop the light from blinding him. It’s much later in the day than he planned to be up, but after last night who could blame him from wanting to stay in bed. He miserably throws back his quilt before strapping on his prosthetic and moving to the bathroom. If he had any sense he’d take some pain killers to quiet down the thumping in his head, but he wants to feel the pain right now. Annoying as it may be, it lets him know that today is real and provides a distraction from the ache in his chest. 

He would laugh out loud if he felt that the situation was even remotely funny. Splashing cold water up into his face, he slowly scrubs a hand down his face forcing the water away. He watches drops of water make their way down his neck and dampen his t-shirt. His eyes make their way back up to his reflection and he stares at himself with a critical eye. He looks tired he decides. He tried to go to sleep as soon as he got home last night, but his phone had been going off non-stop. Instead of answering it or reading the messages, Peeta decided that he was going to drink. He grimaces in the mirror when he recalls the amount he had drunk last night and quite frankly this morning too. He’d never drunk that much in his life, and right now he was certain it would be a cold day in hell before he ever drank that much again. Huffing he decides to throw himself in the shower and try to wash away his miserable night. 

After washing up, he makes his way slowly to his kitchen Peeta runs the tap for a few seconds before filling a glass the top, and downing it. He repeats this process twice before surveying the damage he’d inflicted on his apartment. Bottles were strewn across his coffee table, beer, whiskey and strangely two bottles of wine that he normally used to cook with. He couldn’t say he was much of a wine drinker, but clearly last night anything went. He takes his time cleaning his apartment, before calling into the bakery to check on things. He was thankful when Thresh had laughed away Peeta’s attempt at an apology, and assured him that between him and Rue everything was in order. Hanging up Peeta quickly scans his messages seeing the usual abuse from Finn, reprimanding him for leaving and the solitary message from Annie which simple read ‘Are you okay?’ 

Was he okay? Honestly he didn’t know at this point in time. But he knew he would be. Considering that she was his neighbour he’d have to find a way to co-exist, even if she was with that schmuck Hawthorne. God he hated him, always had really. He’d seen him use girl after girl throughout school, and even heard rumours about him getting a girl pregnant – but he’d still managed to keep Katniss by his side, her loyalty never faltering. Gosh he never deserved her, she was so pure, and Hawthorne, well he was a slag. Shaking his head he knew he shouldn’t judge her so harshly, but god did she deserve better. 

After freshening up the apartment, he decides now is as good a time as any to throw some laundry on. Filling up his basket he pockets his keys and change before making his way to the laundry room. Walking into the dark room he hears the faintest hint of muffled humming that has become so familiar to him over the past few weeks. While he would love to turn around and run, he finds that his feet take him further into the room unconsciously. His eyes widen almost comically as he takes in the scene before him. 

There she sits, perched on top of one of the dryers with the light highlighting her thick hair. Her back is to the door, and her shirt falls off of one her shoulders revealing sun kissed olive skin. A few freckles form on her shoulder and slip down beyond her shirt, ending who where. His eyes move down to the knee cap he sees exposed through a pair of light wash ripped jeans. It’s the same shade of olive as her shoulder, as if she’s been out in the sun recently and turned a few shades darker. His eyes trace further down still and take in her bare foot tapping against the machine in time to a beat she’s listening too. He notices that her toenails aren’t painted, and somehow this is the way he’d expect her to be. Natural, and well...uncomplicated. 

His eyes trace back up to neck, and they focus on a small beauty spot at the base of her hairline. It’s something he hadn’t noticed about her in the years he watched her, and he thinks it’s a shame.. He then scrutinises the mark further and has to stop himself from laughing out loud, as if she needed another mark to reference the fact that she was beautiful. He takes in her hair which has been woven into a braid that starts at one side of her hair and flows down the opposite shoulder. Some tendrils are loose however, and curl against her neck almost rebelliously. 

For the second time in as many days Peeta is rendered speechless, and finds that he likes her like this. Unguarded, and...well, content. He can’t imagine her being this way if she knew he was watching, and although it can’t have been more than a few seconds since he entered the room he can pinpoint the exact moment she realises she’s not alone. Her foot stops tapping and she slips down from the dryer while turning her body at the same time, her movements smooth and fluid like. As she lands, grey clashes with blue, and for a few seconds neither party speaks. 

He takes in the changes in her face over the years, noticing that her lips appear fuller and flushed as if she’d been chewing on them recently. The slopes of her cheekbones remain the same, but she does have a bit of extra weight to her now which makes them seem impossibly higher. Above them he notices that her eyebrows have been changed a little, a small arch has been shaped giving her stormy eyes a more delicate appearance. And although her face is completely free of makeup, he’s certain that it wouldn’t do anything to improve what he considers to be perfection anyway. 

He unconsciously straightens himself when he realises that she’s appraising him as much as he has been her. In normal circumstances he would hide away from her gaze, but he decides that he’s done hiding and the thought makes him strangely calm. It also helps that he does look a lot better than he did in high school. Gone are the days of the slicked back hair, in its place the natural floppy blonde curls he gave up trying to tame years ago. The puppy fat he had as a teen had disappeared also, and in its place was the thickly corded muscles of his arms and shoulders. Her eyes seem to smoulder as they take him in and he stares right back at her unafraid. A blush makes its way across her face, before she slides her headphones off and shakes her head slightly. 

“Peeta?” her musical voice almost whispers. He blinks a few times as she repeats his name a bit louder. “It is you...isn’t it?” she says squinting at him as he remains silent. Her head cocks to the side a bit and only when he registers that he’s made her uncomfortable does he speak. 

“Katniss Everdeen” he whispers, his voice husky from the amount of alcohol he consumed the previous night. The smile that stretches across her face causes him to pause, and he watches in slow motion as she moves towards him and throws her arms around his body. The smell of lavender assaults him immediately, and the heat from her small body immediately thaws out any coldness he held towards her from the previous night. He settles his head on top on hers and he just breathes her in. 

He’s almost positive she’ll be able to feel the slight tremble of his arms as they wrap around her small frame in response to her unexpected hug, but he doesn’t care. For this short moment he wants to forget every thought he’s had in his head since last night and just inhales her scent, sweet as it is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for all your kind comments - I hope you enjoy this instalment. I promise I'm working on other chapters - xo


	9. Boyfriend?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things continue to progress for our Peeta - as he finally finds out more about Katniss and Gale's relationship.

He’s in hell. Absolute hell he decides. Being Katniss’ friend is like being in hell. He’s on fire, burning in her wake and reducing him to nothing but cinders and ash. Ever since that fateful meeting in the laundry room, he’d managed somehow to convince her to swap numbers and meet up to do their laundry together. Sure it was an excuse, but somehow she’d taken pity on him and he found himself staring at her face every week. Staring at her face, her body and lord those countless t-shirts that slipped off her shoulders constantly. Every week she’d find a way to entice him and render him speechless for a moment...if only other parts of his body would stay silent too! 

He’d been running late having offered to shut up the bakery while Thresh took Rue out on their first date, and texted Katniss to tell her that he’d meet her downstairs. He’d practically run down the stairs and into the laundry room when he was literally stopped in his tracks. The basket he’d held in his hands made its way to the floor as he stared open mouthed at the vision before him. Clothed in cut off jean shorts that were indecently high, was his siren bent over at the waist putting her washing into the dryer. Fighting back the groan that was crawling its way out of his throat, Peeta tried to envision everything except the one treacherous thought in his mind. Overbeaten dough; the smell of the gym mats; his mother...nothing stopped his mind from envisioning the inevitable. 

In his mind he saw himself stride towards her, determined and sure. He saw his hands grasp her hips tightly, and was rendered speechless at the difference in their complexion, light and dark. He heard her gasp and straighten at the sudden contact, but that just encouraged him to pull her body towards him quickly. Burying his nose into the back of her hair he takes a deep breath that moves his shoulders in its effort and takes the opportunity to breathe her sweet scent in. He feels her tremble slightly under his hands, and rubs his hands slowly over her hips and up to her waist to let her know he means no harm. After feeling her settle slightly, his hands rub a bit more vigorously moving her oversized t-shirt in the process and exposing her sweet soft skin. She mewls softly as his hands resume their journey across her skin, and he feels himself harden at the sound of her enjoying him. 

He moves his nose out of her braid and rubs it against her neck, smirking when he feels her head lean back exposing herself to him. His hands travel further north this time, past her waist and ghost over her breasts. He feels his heart quicken, and notices her breaths are coming shorter, harder and faster. His lips begin to rub against her neck as his hands trail back down over her breasts, and despite the bra she has donned, he feels her nipples harden at the contact. He kisses her neck gently as his hands descend further, hoping she won’t turn him away. He voice comes out several octaves lower and shaky as he asks, “Will you stop this?” Instead of the answer he expects, she just moves her head from side to side, as her arms trail slowly around his neck and nestle in the hair at his nape. She pulls him slightly lower, towards her throat again and he gladly begins to kiss and suck at whatever skin he can reach. With her distracted he softly undoes her top button, followed by the next and the next. He feels her push back into him, and hisses at the contact. As much as he’d want nothing more than to grind himself into her, this moment right here is for her. He needs this, he’s certain he needs it more than his next breath. 

Sucking the flesh behind her ear, he feels her inhale sharply, before exhaling and letting out a soft puff of air. He stiffens his legs as he tugs at the waistband of her shorts, before rubbing his knuckles over her panties. The mewl she lets out causes him to stiffen even more, and he has to swallow deeply before continuing to rub her through her panties. “Is this what you want Katniss?” he whispers roughly into her ears. Again her head begins the move, but he halts his movement suddenly. “No....I want...I need to hear you say it” he endears into her neck. His heart beats ferociously as he waits for her answer, not missing the way her hips almost imperceptibly nudge against his hand, allowing him to feel the moistness that is beginning to gather. “Peeta....Peeta I need you” he hears her musical voice whisper, and all at once he feels himself relax as he is granted his wish. Using his feet to nudge her legs open wider, he snakes one of his hands around her hips to keep her from moving too much, while the other slips under her panties in search of what she needs. What he needs. Just as his fingers slide against her swollen lips he hears her cry out, “Peeta!”

“Peeta!”

“Peeta! Are you ignoring me?!” shaking himself from his daydream he notices that Katniss has made her way across the room, and is standing in front of him with a frown. He blushes when he realises that he must’ve been standing there a while, staring at her. “Urm..sorry. Hi Katniss”

“Hmph, hi yourself. Whatever you were thinking about must’ve been very occupying” she murmurs as she walks away from him, before placing herself on the dryer and picking back up the book she must’ve been reading. He bends to pick up his washing basket and hold it over his thighs, blocking any chance of her seeing just how ‘occupied’ he really was. “Sorry...it’s aah..been a hectic day” he says sauntering over to the empty machine. 

“That’s cause your customers love your food too much. Not that I blame them” she says, throwing a lop sided smile in his direction. 

“Aaah, the lady says anything to get a hold of what I have this bag” he says, as he takes the brown bag off the top of his washing, handing it to her. He smiles as he watches her tear open the bag, and begin to munch her way through the latest treat he’s brought her. His face flushes as he hears her moan out loud after the first bite, and he quickly sits down and covers his groin with his bunched up hoodie. “So, what’re you up to this weekend? Much planned with the boyfriend?” he says, looking down at the floor, seemingly unbothered. 

“Boyfriend, pfffft” she says offhandedly as she screws up the brown bag, throwing it into the waste paper basket with extreme precision.

“Boyfriend. You know, Mr tall dark and handsome from your concert?” he says, picking an invisible piece of lint from his trousers. 

“Who Gale?” she questions after a beat. 

“Yeah, Gale” he says trying to keep his face free from emotion. 

“I suppose you could say he’s my boyfriend, in a way...” Peeta zones out after this, mortified that he’s been thinking about another guys’ girl in that way. He thinks about the nights he’s been kept awake envisioning her in a thousand different ways, and reddens at the memories. Sighing he continues to stare at the floor willing his battered heart back together again, when he hears something to give him hope. 

“....so anyways me Gale and Cinna are going to pick out tuxedo’s for their wedding on Saturday. Fun times, I guess?”

“Wait what?! Gale is gay?!” Peeta asks jumping up to his feet. Katniss stares back at him from her perch unperturbed, “Yeah....weren’t you listening to anything I said Peeta? Sheeesh you’re really out of it today aren’t you?” a smile making its way across her face as she elegantly hops down from the dryer to pull out her clothes. His heart is going a million miles a minute as he stares at her back, noticing the way the fluorescent lights reflect off of the lighter strands of her hair. “So what do you say Peet? Fancy making a fool out of yourself with me?”

“Huh?”

“The wedding, do you want to go?”

“Huh?” he says staring at her dumbfounded, certain that he’d finally lost it and gone off the deep end. 

“It’s the weekend after next. I know they’re leaving everything to last minute, but what with the holidays coming up and Gale needing to be back to work for September...it’s kind of perfect timing”

“Urm...” he mumbles, as he watches her eyes widen at his comical behaviour. “Listen, I’ll text you the details and you let me know if you’re free yeah? I better get this lot upstairs” she says slinging her basket up to rest it on her hip as she strolls away from him. She stops by the door as his poor brain tries to catch up with recent developments, and turns slowly. “By the way Peet, if you ever want that washing done...you should try turning on the machine”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested, I've tried to make this chapter more mature and hopefully my writing isn't too underdeveloped to capture what I've tried too. Apologies for the slow updates, holidays always tend to be super busy for me. 
> 
> Happy holidays to all my lovely readers xo


	10. What’s a wedding without a little drama – part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the wedding is finally here...but what's a wedding without a little bit of drama eh?
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry guys - I've not quite finished with this 'wedding' yet, so I've broken it into two parts while I try and get the story right. Apologies for the delay, the holidays are a nightmare for me with work - C xo

He’s not freaking out...he’s totally not freaking out. Taking a few breaths to steady himself Peeta stares at his reflection in the mirror and can see the lack of sleep he’d had the night before. Today is the day he finally has a date with Katniss Everdeen. Katniss freaking Everdeen! Sure it wasn’t an official date, you know the kind he’d been dreaming about for years....the ones where he’d pick her up, take her out for a nice meal and walk through the park after before kissing her lovingly goodnight. Or the ones where he’d take her for a picnic in a meadow and they’d watch the sun set and he’d sketch her as she dosed in the ebbing heat of the afternoon. Or you know...the not so hallmark dates where he’d take her to a club and they’d drink and dance, grind on each other until there was nothing separating them except clothing. But it was a whole weekend that he could spend attached to Katniss and really get to know her...and who knows maybe she’d want to get to know him too. 

Hopping in the shower, he takes extra time to shave his stubble as close to the skin as possible and lets the shower run cold to take away his morning erection. After he’s dressed and pushes his hands through his shorter hair nervously (courtesy of the barber he’d visited yesterday for a tidy up), he picks up the suitcase he’d packed the same day she’d mentioned the wedding. Sure, it was eager, but when it came to Katniss – when wasn’t he eager? He did play it cool however and spent a few days ‘considering’ her suggestion under the guise that he’d needed to make sure he had cover at the bakery. But eventually he gave in when she texted him one simple word, ‘please’. That’s all it took for him to trade in his man card, and fall not so gracefully at her feet. God her feet...he’d even dreamt about them lately, running up his calves while they cuddled in bed, or pushed into the sand on a beach somewhere. 

Shaking away that thought, he makes his way out of his apartment grabbing the bag of warm cheese buns he made especially for her this morning. She answers on his second knock, and he’s momentarily taken aback by how stunning she looks in a soft amber dress, with her hair curled slightly and tumbling freely down her back. She smirks at him, “Yeah I know...I look like a girl” before twirling to show the low cut back of the dress, exposing what looks like the start of a tattoo. Before he’s able to get a look at the design any closer, her curtain of hair falls back in place and she twirls back around with the fluidity of a prima ballerina. For once Peeta finds he’s able to say exactly what he wants to in that moment, “You look beautiful Katniss” before bending quickly to pick up her small suitcase. “C’mon, we better get a move on if we want to make it to the farm by midday” he says walking towards the elevator, slightly perturbed when it takes her a moment to follow. 

Once they are in his car, he passes her the cheese buns and watches as she painstakingly tears into them one after the other. For such a petite girl, her appetite wasn’t something he’d ever have to worry about if they ever became a couple. Reddening slightly at that dream, he decides to give her free reign over his radio, before spending the next four hours driving through traffic, listening to her hum, sing and basically ensnare his heart even more. By the time they reach the farm, he’s found out that there isn’t a genre of music she cannot sing and he’s even made her hesitate at the few times he harmonised with her. 

Driving up the winding path to the farm, Peeta enjoys watching her face light up taking in the simple rustic decorations. A few white flowers dangling from the trees and signs, and lanterns placed seemingly haphazardly around to be lit in the evening. He parks up, and helps her out of the car, not missing the slight flush on her face and the awkward ‘thanks’ she squeaks. As the wedding is due to start soon, they don’t bother taking their luggage in, and instead make their way to the garden where the ceremony will be held. He feels proud having her curl her hand into the crook of his arm, and can’t help but smile at every stranger there, who blatantly do double takes at the striking pair. After making general chit chat, Katniss leaves Peeta so that she can stand at the front for the ceremony. 

Peeta watches in amazement as she shares a speech about the couple, and kisses them both openly and warmly before joining their hands together. He sees the love she has for the couple, and pities his younger self that was once so jealous of Gale and the relationship he’d thought they’d had. After the ceremony is over, he walks back up the aisle trying to catch up with Katniss and notices a blonde guy walking with determination ahead of him. His eyes follow him as he catches up to Katniss, takes her arm and whispers into her ear, before she walks off to the other side of the building. Although a little hurt, Peeta decides not to interrupt their conversation and instead hangs back to see if she needs his help. 

“Sooo Kat...long time no see. You’re looking lovely as always”

“Cato”

“Oh is that the only welcome you can give me?”

“Pfffft you’ve got some nerve” 

“Meow, retract those claws kitty. I come in peace”

“What do you want?” hearing the shake in her voice, Peeta steps closer to the wall they are standing. 

“Want?! Why do you assume that I want anything from you? From my experience, you’re not the most giving of people”

“Fuck you Cato!” 

Hearing a slapping sound following by a quick shuffle of footsteps before a thud against the wall, Peeta chooses this time to intervene. As he rounds the corner he sees Katniss arms being forcibly held above her head while she struggles to free herself. The image in front of him changes, and he sees Cato recoil and hit the floor as if slow motion. It’s only as he looks at the shock on Katniss’ face and registers a dull throbbing in his hand the he notices he’s the one responsible for it. He’s never been one for violence, but seeing her being handled like that...well he don’t even know what happened. 

“Who the fuck are you?!” Cato spits from the floor, nursing his jaw in one hand. Peeta stands protectively in front of Katniss, with an arm cast around her hips to draw her closer to him. 

“Who the fuck are you to treat a woman like that?!” Peeta spits back in response, eyebrows creased with the effort it takes not to launch himself at the scrum lying on the floor. 

“Woman?! Pffft she’s no woman” Cato says cruelly, standing and eyeing Peeta warily. 

“Apologise” Peeta says while simultaneously staring the blonde down, and taking note of Katniss’ escalated breathing. 

“Apologise?! For what? That bitch hit mfffph” the last word comes out in a groan as Peeta’s fist connects with his nose, and he crumbles to the floor. 

“You broke my fucking nose!” he says, cradling the now bent nose that is bleeding quickly down his white shirt. 

“I’ll break more than your nose if you so much as look at her again!” Peeta answers, sounding darker and more sinister than he has in his life. He watches Cato use the wall to help himself up off the floor, wiping the blood on his sleeve before walking off in the opposite direction. His gaze doesn’t shift from him until he’s completely out of their sight, and he slowly releases his hand from her hip that he was gripping tightly. 

Turning to face her, he checks her over with his eyes trying to see any harm that may’ve been caused. He takes his time looking up her legs, her midriff, her arms, her neck and finally her face. He scans her eyes for any sign of upset or hurt, but is instead greeted with the swirling grey of her eyes. His heart beat picks up rapidly, and he licks his lips trying to ease the dryness he suddenly feels. 

“Are you okay?” they ask at the same time, both gazing at each other intently, before Peeta chuckles and says more firmly, “Seriously are you okay?” Taking her time before she answers, she nods her head firmly. “I’m sorry Peeta. I didn’t know that he was going to be here.”

“And he is who exactly” he prompts, checking out the slight redness to his knuckles and deciding he’s had worse when he used to wrestle. 

“A mistake” she finally answers, before brushing off her dress. Sensing her discomfort, Peeta decides he has two choices; either let that jackass dampen their mood, or to work his ass off to make his siren smile again. Clearing his throat, Peeta makes his decision and smiles goofily at Katniss before holding out his arm. 

“C’mon Everdeen I believe you owe me a dance”  
“Pffft a dance, when did I agree to dance with you?” she answers, cocking her head to the side and folding her arms sternly. 

“Oh I don’t know, right about the time you asked me to be your date” he says, smugly smiling at her while raising his eyebrows. Seeing the small tick by her lips he knows she will be smiling tonight, and he takes her hand with a flourish to lead her to the dance floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are still with me on this one - I've always preferred the chase when reading stories, so I hope you don't mind if I drag it out a little more. 
> 
> As always lovelies, any requests just let me know ;) xo


	11. What’s a wedding without a little drama – part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding party continues, with our main character having a heart to heart with someone he considered a rival for many years.

It was like something straight out of a movie. Warner Brothers be damned – not even they could capture the sheer perfection of this moment with all the cameras and directors in their fleet. They wouldn’t be able to capture the way her skirt snapped around her thighs in such quick succession, revealing and then concealing that secret beauty spot he admired so much. The cameras couldn’t do justice to the pink and orange hues of the setting sun, magnifying the olive of her skin and the warm tones of her dark hair as it whipped from side to side. No camera he decides could ever capture the true likeness of her, her passion, her soul. But a true artist like him could appreciate her true fire.   
Throughout the course of the evening he could see the hidden smiles she tried so desperately to hide, and the effort it took to school her face into its usual scowl tonight. Tonight his siren was happy, and in the midst of the speeches, the food (okay the cake wasn’t the best but...) and the dancing he couldn’t help but relish that he had a part to play in that. 

Far from being the clumsy oaf most people would assume him to be, you know one foot missing and all, he was far from it. The lessons Finnick had made him take were a God send in this moment. He moved with her fluidly, and led her around the floor, causing people to stand back and watch. He pushed, she pulled, and they moved as one, lost in the music. The seamlessly moved from one song to another, and he had no intention of releasing her until the groom came. “Mind if I cut in?” a deep voice croons, causing Peeta to hesitate in his steps, but his hand doesn’t release hers straight away. 

“Gale, you remember Peeta” 

“How could I forget – bread boy right?” he says, large hand coming down to slap Peeta on the shoulder and wind him momentarily. 

“Uh...yeah that’s right. C-Congrats on the wedding” Peeta mutters awkwardly, hand rubbing the back of his neck in a tell-tale sign of awkwardness. 

“Thanks man, hey Catnip you can spare a dance for the bride can’t you?” he says, grinning widely as his groom walks towards them, taking Gale’s hand. 

“Bride I am not. Handsome groom and love of your life...well I’ll take it” Cinna says, smiling widely at them both, before extending his hand to Peeta. “Nice to meet you Peeta, I’ve heard some lovely things about you”. 

Peeta reddens slightly, before shaking his hand firmly and congratulating him on his nuptials. 

“Thank you, it’s a pleasure to have you here, both of you. Mind if I borrow the best woman for a dance?” he says, already reaching out for Katniss’ hand before leading her to the middle of the floor. Peeta watches them in interest, noting that she doesn’t dance as well with Cinna....but that could be the slightly jealous side of him speaking. 

“She looks happy” Gale murmurs, watching his groom and Katniss as she throws her head back laughing at something shared between the pair. 

“She does” Peeta agrees, smiling at the joy on her face, before noticing that Gale is staring at him critically for a moment. 

“You know, I never used to like you or your brothers growing up. You know about my rivalry with Rye already I imagine. But you....well it always seemed that you had it too easy, being from a well off family and top of your classes...”

Peeta’s eyebrow lifts up, but other than that he masks his face in indifference before answering, “No I can’t say that I was that fond of your either Hawthorne...”

Gale laughs animatedly, clearly surprised by the response. “No I don’t imagine you were” he replies, gazing at his groom and Katniss sway together. “I love her you know....” he says twisting his head away from the dance floor to look at Peeta dead on, “...always have”. 

Although he can feel his anxiety growing on the inside, Peeta doesn’t respond to the statement and waits for Gale to continue his train of thought. 

“Hah, strong silent type...I get it. I’m serious though, I’ve always loved Catnip and she’s always loved me”. Seeing the flinch in Peeta’s shoulders Gale tries to stifle his laugh, poorly, until he sees annoyance and the pain in Peeta’s eyes. Eventually he pats him on the shoulder again, leaving his palm on his broad shoulder. “You don’t see it do you?” Gale says, smiling crookedly at Peeta before resuming. “She’s always watched you too, you know?”Peeta stares back at Gale open-mouthed, and sees the smile creeping even further up his face. “Yes I know you’ve always watched her, blatantly bordering on the stalker territory - but you never seemed to notice that she was staring back numb-nut”

“But I thought...”

“What...that she was with me? We were together, but not together together. Hell, Catnip was the only one who knew that I liked men. Don’t get me wrong, I love the female form, particularly boobs – boobs are always welcome in my house, but the rest of it...I prefer em more masculine shall we say”

Peeta watches Katniss more closely as she holds onto Cinna tighter, lost in their private conversation and unconsciously swaying out of time to the music. “I meant it when I said I love her though bread-boy. And that goes for Cinna too. If you even think about hurting her, I won’t hesitate to put an arrow through your eye”

“I would never...” Peeta starts, before Gale’s hand tightens on his shoulder and stopping him from finishing. His eyebrows scrunch together while he appears to be thinking about something very deeply for a moment, before he coughs. 

“Let’s just say I’ve heard that one before bread boy. You might’ve seen an old ‘friend’ of Catnip’s today”

“Cato?” Peeta prompts, and recognition lights in Gale’s face. 

“Aaah so it was you. Unfortunately he’s family so I can’t not invite him...but I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Catnip. He messed her up when she was already in a dark place....hell it took her forever before she picked that guitar back up again. I thought she’d never sing again” They both stare out into the crowd at Katniss, who’s now being held by Gale’s mother, before Cinna starts to dance again with the two women on either side of him. 

“When Prim died, it’s like Catnip died too you know? She stopped talking, barely ate anything, didn’t go to college. We had to beg them to let her out for a semester so she didn’t lose her scholarship, but she didn’t care. And Cato...well he was Cato. Egotistical prick couldn’t see that she was hurting bad, and instead went looking elsewhere for entertainment”

Peeta’s head is spinning as he’s holding on the fact that little Primrose Everdeen has died. How was it possible? She was so healthy, so vibrant and full of energy. “How?” he eventually mumbles, throat scratchy and voice solemn. 

“Car crash. They said she didn’t feel anything, died on impact”. 

“I’m so sorry” Peeta whispers, feeling his eyes glisten with unshed tears for the little girl who would talk to any and everyone wherever she went. He could picture her long blonde braids flying in the wind as she would run or skip with Rue through school, and hear her lilting carefree laughter. Poor Prim her thinks...poor Katniss. 

“Thank you. I take it Catnip hasn’t mentioned anything yet?” 

“No...well she doesn’t really talk all that much. Not to me at least” 

“Catnip doesn’t talk much period. But I’m thinking she talks to you more than you know”

“You think?” Peeta asks after a beat.

“Oh I don’t think, I know. I am her best friend after all....I’m guessing when she’s ready to open up about it she will. I suggest you don’t bring anything up in the meantime, it might have been a few years but it’s like it happened yesterday you know?”

“Of course” Peeta answers immediately. They spend the next few minutes watching Katniss be twirled around, the twinkling lights catching the subtle copper hues in her dress. Peeta stares at her unabashed, and unknowingly smiles as he watches her carefree, and happy. 

“You really are a good guy aren’t you bread boy?” Gale says, placing his hand on the back of Peeta’s neck, before clapping his shoulder. Peeta smirks a little chuckle, but just shrugs his shoulder in response. 

“Anyway, enough of the heavy stuff me thinks. This is my wedding after all, how about you share some of those moves with me bread-boy?”

“You want me to dance with you”

“And why not? You’re not my type, too sweet and puppy like. Although that ass...well that’s just a gift – c’mon!” he says as he grabs Peeta’s hand and leads him to the dance floor. 

It’s a few hours later, and after making a fool of himself trying to twirl the much taller Gale around the dance floor; then dancing with member after member of Gales family (he tries not to think too hard about Gale’s grandmother who’s hands kept wandering to his butt; he finally is able to reclaim his siren. A slight sheen is across her shoulders and forehead, but this just heightens her beauty he thinks, making her more other worldly. He gathers her close to his chest and breaths in the sweet smell of her hair. “Having fun?” 

“The best” her small voice answers, as they sway and sway across the dance floor. Rather than the earlier form of dancing where he twirled and turned her across the floor, he takes the time to just relax with her in his arms and sway softly, almost out of time to the beat. He doesn’t recall how long they’re dancing like that, until Gale’s little sister comes to claim Katniss. He feels robbed as he watches he be dragged away, but is relieved when she throws him a huge grin over her shoulder, rendering him speechless. He watches as Posy helps Katniss onto the makeshift stage, and passes her a ukulele. He moves unconsciously closer to the stage, and waits for her song. 

The chords build, and he recognises the song as something that has recently been in the charts. Funnily enough it’s something he heard her play before he knew it was her. It kept him up that night that song, her voice. It made him feel a range of emotions as he heard her voice fan out into the night. It made him feel hope. He watches her mouth curve towards the microphone as she forms the words, eyes pressed shut as she loses herself in the music. His eyes never move from her, take in every bit of light that reflects off of her, her dress, her beautiful hair. He takes in the hue of her olive skin, and the way her feet tap imperceptibly to the beat she’s plucks from the ukuleles strings. 

Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight, just a touch of the fire burning so bright, and I don't want to mess this thing up; I don't want to push too far. Just a shot in the dark that you just might be the one I've been waiting for my whole life, so baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight...

On the final note she blushes at the sound of thunderous applause, and politely declines an encore as requested by the guests. She places the ukulele into Posy’s hands, who promptly runs off to find someone else to sing. When she stands up to full height she scans the crowd until she spots Peeta and smiles. Grey clashes with blue, and Peeta’s grin stretches widely across his face. Feeling confident after his discussion with Gale, he gestures to Katniss with his head, and walks off away from the party knowing that she will follow. 

She catches up to him in no time, and they walk side by side taking in the small lanterns littered around the farm. As they near a large tree looking out onto a field, Peeta stares down at Katniss impishly before smiling and begins to pull his body up onto the largest branch. It takes some doing using solely his upper body, but he manages to situate himself of the branch before shuffling across to make some room for her. He feels more than sees her climb the tree in no time, and she sits next to him, thigh pressed against thigh. They can hear the faint sounds of the wedding party in the background, but the tree is facing towards a beautiful silvery moon. For a few minutes they simply stare at the moon, and its sister stars while listening to the other person breathe. 

“What are we doing here Peeta?” 

“I wasn’t ready for the night to end” he says honestly, before taking her small hand in his and rubbing his large thumb across her knuckles. He hears a small intake of breath, but she makes no move to pull away from him. After a few moments he sighs, knowing that they’ve both probably drunk too much to have a deep heart to heart. So instead he asks her something his younger self could only dream of. 

“Will you sing for me?” he waits just a beat before she places her head on his shoulder and begins to hum. She sings the song his younger self has never forgotten, and he closes his eyes to hold onto its memory, and the new one he’s making. 

"And no, we're not alone, alone  
We can be alone together  
And no, we're not alone, alone  
We can feel alone together...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your continued love, comments and kudos. I will endeavour to try and get some more chapters out to you soon - just trying to feel out how the story is going to go! 
> 
> P.S. I am thinking about perhaps doing some short one-shots as part of a series, if there is something you would like to see I would be more than happy to attempt for you lovelies xo


	12. Songs in the shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after the night before, how can we make this weekend even better for Peeta...

A gentle breeze creeps its way across his head, gently rustling his curls like soft little kisses. He scrunches his eyes against the morning light, too tired to wake really considering the time he went to sleep. A soft weight moves slightly across his chest, and rather than be unsettled by it, he welcomes its warmth. His arms tighten slightly when the weight moves again, to keep it in place and ward off the morning chill, before he realises just what the weight is. His arms stiffen slightly, not wanting to entrap her, before his eyes creak open. 

He takes in her small form nestled against his chest. Her head is cushioned just below his pectorals, her hair mussed and scattered across his shirt. One of her hands has curled its way inside of his shirt, and rests against his chest, fingers sitting just atop his small scattering of curls. He notices that his legs have bracketed hers completely, encasing her totally with his body and no doubt providing valuable body heat to her throughout the night. 

Turning his head slightly he takes in their surroundings, willing some sort of memory to come back from the night before. He remembers staying up most of the night and morning trading stories with her. They weren’t anything consequential, just little tid bits of their lives growing up. Although he was speaking for the majority of the time, the few stories she told about her parents and little Prim warmed his heart. He could feel just how much she loved them, and knew that to be loved by her would be a rare and beautiful thing. While he knew there was no way she could feel that way about him just yet, just being close to her...well he honestly didn’t know what he’d done to make him so lucky, but he was sure to thank each and every star in the sky for giving him the opportunity.

She moves her face closer to his neck, and while it feels impossibly good he can feel his body responding in a way he doesn’t want it to in that moment. He wills himself to think of anything else, his mother, the bakery, hell even his accident, but the second she murmurs the slightest little moan into his neck as she snuggles closer, and her hand pulls slightly on his chest hair he’s done for. He feels himself swell in next to no time, and it burns, straining like never before against his zipper. Her little shuffling movements against him don’t help his situation, and he feels more than hears himself let out a groan the more she rubs against him. He’s still trying to think of something, anything else, when he feels her start to wake up. She’s a slow riser, taking the time to stretch out her body and flutter her long eye lashes against his skin before she realises she’s not in bed. She moves away from him suddenly, before realising who he is and where they are. 

“Morning” she whispers, turning her face away from his either to blush, or to hide the remnants of morning breath from him, he’s not sure. 

“Morning Katniss” he murmurs back, watching her carefully extricate herself from him, but not before she rubs herself accidently against his erection. He hisses softly at the contact, startling her to his morning predicament. 

“I...uh...I...jeeez this is embarrassing” he chuckles, before smoothly dragging his shirt out of his trousers to cover the ‘situation’. His face feels like it’s on fire, and he’s relieved to notice that she isn’t laughing at him at all. In fact, she’s positively beet red herself.

“Urm...it’s nothing to be ashamed about Peeta. Just a morning thing right...” she dismisses with a wave of her hand, and begins fussing with the snarls that have formed in throughout her hair. “I can’t believe we slept out here last night. What time do you think it is?” she asks, clearly trying to change to subject. 

“Early I guess, maybe 5ish”, the groan he hears her let out after that causes him to stiffen again, and he rolls his eyes at his school boy like behaviour. “The sun should be coming up shortly...” he trails off, spotting some apples in a tree not too far from where they are. “...fancy some breakfast?” he says, pointing out the juicy reddish apples. A smile creeps its way across her face, “I thought you’d never ask” before she takes off fluidly in a jog to the tree, and somehow finds her way up into its branches in a matter of seconds. He follows her on shaky legs, his prosthesis giving out a bit, letting him know that he shouldn’t have slept in it. He tries to shake off the pain, but knows that he will have to take it easy today to avoid some real damage later. 

Her laughter diverts him from the throbbing in his leg, as he moves lopsidedly trying to catch the fruit she flings down to him. He manages to miss a few, but figures that she’d just assume that he wasn’t quite awake yet, as he haphazardly makes his way back to their tree to enjoy their spoils. He watches her methodically take large bites of the apple, and a small sliver of juice makes its way down her chin. His fingers reach out automatically to chase the trail of liquid, and he finds himself unconsciously bringing them to his lips to suck off the remainder. He sees her swallow at this, and he chuckles to himself at his forwardness, and her frankly pure response of a blush. 

Once they’ve enjoyed a few apples each, and buried the cores under the earth, they make their way back to the room. Far from being tired any longer, Peeta is anxious to take off his prosthesis and get some air to his leg. He watches as she hops up onto the bed, and snuggles into the comforter. Although he offers her the use of the bathroom first, he’s relieved when she tells him to go ahead. As the steamy water hits him he feels it sting a little, but tries to relax and let the heat soak into his sore muscles. At some point he loses his grip, and falls unceremoniously in the shower. His attempt to catch himself only results in a sore arm and side, and he desperately hopes that she didn’t hear it. His heart hammers against his chest for a few moments, and the second he relaxes the door to the shower swings open, inviting in cold air. 

“Peeta?!” and then all of sudden her hands are on him. He’s naked...and Katniss has her hands all over him. His teenage self would be going crazy, if it wasn’t for the fact he’s missing a very important part of himself. He tries desperately to shift on his side to hide his stump, and pushes her hands away from him. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” 

“Just felt a bit whoozy. I’m okay now seriously” 

He feels the second she notices that he’s missing something, and instantly feels deflated. His shoulders drop, and every ounce of confidence he’d managed to cultivate over their time together disappears. What’s worse, he feels tears burn his face, and is only slightly grateful that she may mistake them as water from the shower that is still running. His body shudders as he rakes in breathes, and hopes, prays that she would just leave. 

What he doesn’t expect is for her hands to return to his face, and coax him to face her again. It takes him several heart hammering moments before he can look at her, and even then he only makes it so far as her lips. Lips he was so sure he’d have been able to kiss this weekend, and that dream was now slinking away, like the water running into the drain.   
“Peeta, look at me”. His forces in another breath, before he manages to lock onto her grey orbs, with his now watery blue. “Peeta what’s wrong? Are you hurt?” 

He laughs humourlessly at this, thinking he can’t even begin to describe how hurt he is. He feels her small hands pass over his face again, and he feels ashamed suddenly at the pity party he is throwing himself. He stares into her grey and answers as honestly as he can, “I think I hit my arm pretty good” and watches as her arms travel to it, checking it over here and there. 

“I can’t see any signs of a break, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to have a nasty bruise. Do you think you can stand?” 

Taking a deep breath, he allows his hands to touch her wrists, not sure yet if he means for her to let go, or to hold on tighter. Her eyes burn into his, and he notices that her hair is plastered to her head and she is soaking wet. “Katniss I...I’m sorry, you’re all wet” 

Her musical laugh invades the room, and he very almost forgets that she can see him, all of him. He lets go of her arms suddenly, and gestures at himself, “I’m sorry...my leg...I know it’s hideous...” and tries to shift a little more to hide himself. He finds himself unable to say anything else as her small hand masks his mouth. 

“No it’s not”   
“Katniss...” he moans, trying to untangle her hands from him. 

“Peeta, it’s not...” she says, her small hands curling themselves in the back of his neck. “You’re not...you’re beautiful” and suddenly he finds her lips connected with his. It takes him a long drawn out second to realise that the girl of his dreams is kissing him. Katniss is kissing him. Her lips are soft and full, and feel so blessedly wonderful against his. He’s known nothing like it in his life. The pressure they apply, the pull they bring. He has dreamed of a thousand different ways they would have their first kiss, but none of the scenarios in his head ever thought of this. 

It’s clumsy, and the water is still hammering down on them from the shower head, but it’s perfect. She’s sweet, soo sweet. She tastes of apples and the hints of vanilla from the cake the night before. His hands find themselves in her hair, and he combs it slowly while pulling her closer to him. He tries to take in every motion, every feeling and every sound of the moment, but decides that a memory could never do this justice. Instead he relishes in every feeling, the small moans she makes which make up the sweetest symphony he’s ever heard, and he loses himself in the moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for your continued support. I'm really sorry for the slow updates - so much is happening atm. But I hope you enjoy this wee bit of heaven (in my humble opinion) as our lovely boy begins to accept himself.


	13. A minor chord

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's in a kiss....for Peeta it's everything!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for baring with me as I try to work out this story - your lovely comments and kudos are much appreciated! xo

The way she kisses is something that is so difficult to put into words. It’s indescribable really, she does this...and then there’s....and it makes him....no, there is simply no way he is able to put it into words. It’s something he’d be able to paint though he decides, vividly. The colours he’d use, he’d gladly spend hours trying to mix the right shades to describe how her kisses feel. There’d be oranges and pinks, yellows and reds, greens and browns, blues and purples....it’d be every colour that ever existed and some that are a new creation. He paint the whole canvas, and when that wasn’t enough he’d paint the floor, the ceiling....hell he’d paint the world. Even then he supposes he wouldn’t be able to get it quite right. 

His hands hold onto her small cheeks, hoping for just a moment more of this rhapsody she starts to pull away. He registers that she is making some kind of sound, but his heart is hammering in his chest that loudly he can’t quite make it out. So he stares at her, eyebrows crinkling trying to work out what she’s trying to say. Her small hands have circled his wrists as they pry him away a little, so they can look at each other. He takes in the faint flush across her cheeks, and the molten in her eyes swirling and twirling. “Peeta...” that much he knows he hears, before he registers her musical laugh floating through the water and effectively silencing his heart. “Peeta....the water it’s freezing”. His eyebrows scrunch a little more, before he tries to feel the temperature of the water cascading his back. It hadn’t even registered before, but given that the majority of his body is sheltering hers from the spray, it’d have to be really cold for her to feel it before he did. A smile makes its way across his face, “Don’t care” and her smirk in response makes him laugh at his lame attempt of a joke. 

“Well you should, c’mon” she says, reaching her slim hands up by his shoulders, and giving him a good tug. Together they manage to get him standing somewhat seamlessly, and he blushes a little noticing that her eyes are locked on what’s left of his leg. Her fingers reach out to stroke it, but he catches her hand before it can connect. She looks at him with a confused expression before she looks down a little, “I’m sorry” she murmurs. His fingers clutch hers tightly, encouraging her to look back up at him to see that he isn’t offended, not in the slightest. 

“Don’t be...I’m just not ready yet, you know?” he says, before tilting her chin up, and placing a soft peck on her lips. When he notices the peck growing into something more he pulls away, feeling on top of the world when she follows him a little before looking up at him. A crumby smile makes its way across his face, and he couldn’t feel any less romantic when he speaks, “Sooo...breakfast?”

“Breakfast” she agrees, before stepping out of the shower and grabbing a towel on the way out. He watches her until she makes her way through the door, his eyes chasing the water pooling from her hair and down her back. Once she is through the door, he stares down at himself – and chuckles to himself, thinking maybe it’s a good thing the water is freezing. 

Once he’s finished his morning routine, Peeta ambles out of the bathroom and watches as she enters to finish off washing and brushing her teeth. Although she leaves the door ajar just slightly, he summons superhuman restraint to look away and get dressed in peace. While she’s managed to get an eyeful of him today, he remembers that he’s a gentleman...kind of. 

He watches her as she exits the bathroom maybe ten minutes later, dressed and wearing a beautiful off the shoulder cream jumper dress. If he stares hard enough he can just make out the etchings of a tattoo on her back, as her hair is swept up in an intricate braid. He takes a few more seconds to admire her as she packs away her toiletries, picking up the faint hints of vanilla and lavender. Once she’s done she scrutinises him for a few seconds before fixing the collar to his shirt, and practically dragging him out the door when his stomach growls. 

They walk hand in hand into the dining area, greeted by the majority of the wedding party. Peeta is somewhat surprised to notice that the groom and groom are present, if a little worse for wear. He notices that Gale has some debris in his hair signifying either a very good...or very bad night. Noticing that Cinna looks impeccable, if a bit tired he decides that it must’ve been a very good night. Gale hoots when he sees Katniss and him walking in to the room, and gestures towards them to take a seat at the table. Once he’s pushed her chair in, Peeta flops down on the chair next to her, resting his arm unconsciously across the back of her chair. They make general chit chat as they scoff down virtually everything that is offered. Bacon; eggs; toast; tea (no sugar for Peeta, but plenty of milk and sugar for Katniss) and share an array of fruit, smiling when they split another apple. 

He notices Gale watching them for majority of the meal with a smirk on his face, and before long he watches Katniss’ scowl get wider and wider. He feels the moment her patience runs out, and just as she’s about to snap her runs the tips of his fingers across her back. While she jumps at the contact, she soon settles back down and absently eats some of the fruit that remains on his plate. As Peeta turns his head back towards Gale he’s positively red, choking on something (probably his tongue) as his groom pats his back absently. He watches as Cinna mouths something, along the lines of “leave her alone”, and smirks as Gale stares back at him defiantly before smiling at Peeta in approval. 

When the wedding party start to filter out, Peeta clears his throat awkwardly before softly scooping up Katniss’ hand from the table. He’s relieved when she doesn’t pull away from him, and he takes the time to just rub his thumb across her small hands for a few moments. Mustering up the courage he’s had from their weekend together he finally looks up into her eyes and manages to form a sentence, 

“Katniss....do you think maybe you’d...would you mind if I..(cough)...what I’m trying to ask, very poorly...do you think I could take you out sometime. On a real date?”  
He waits anxiously, hearing his heart pound rapidly...lub dub...lub dub....lub dub. 

“I’d like that” she whispers, kissing his cheek lingeringly before smiling at him gently. He listens to his heart speed up some more, before he kisses her delicate hand softly, inhaling the scent of vanilla from her hands.


	14. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the date finally arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write this - I was truly stuck with how I wanted their date to happen / be - and even now I'm uncertain that it's right. But here we have it folks - the date....

After she’d said yes to the date, he immediately began thinking of different places he could take her. He must’ve scouted every restaurant in the area, deciding that some were too posh; others too cheap and nothing ever meeting his very high expectations. He then looked at all sorts of activities. Heck he even debated taking her shooting for a date, before he decided it wasn’t very original....well that and he sort of maybe sucked at it. Eventually after stressing about it for days, he came across a park where he could rent a boat for a day. Sure he wasn’t the best of swimmers, but the person on the phone assured him he could practically stand up anywhere in the lake. The selling point more than anything else was the island teaming with creatures they could dock at. He knew she’d love it, it was outdoors, and he knew he’d love it – he’d be with her. After sending her a cryptic text message that he’d spent entirely too long composing, he’d asked her to dress nicely but not smartly and be ready at ten.

Peeta had taken his time getting ready for their date, discarding one outfit after the other, before finally settling on a short sleeved shirt, with some khakis that he was intending to roll up given the hot weather. Although they would showcase his lack of leg, he figures she’s seen so much more of him and hasn’t run away yet. Might as well. He’s tried styling his hair this way and that, before he eventually just ruffles his hands through it and lets his long curls bounce off his forehead. Katniss had spent a long time of the drive back from the wedding messing with his hair, and he figures if she likes it long and a mess, who’s he to deprive her of it! After checking out his reflection in the mirror again, he’d considered changing his clothes before he shook himself and reminded himself that he could do this. He could do this. 

Reiterating the statement in his head like a mantra, he feels like a bit of an idiot as he knocks on her door almost 15 minutes earlier than planned. But he couldn’t wait any longer to see her. He’d been missing her all week, and despite the messages they’d exchanged almost daily, he really wanted to see her. He missed her face, her scowl, her smell, and her voice more than anything. She’d had a lot of work to do throughout the week, and her late night concerts had all but been cancelled. Instead of her sweet voice to sing him to sleep, he had to make do with a few texts here and there. He runs his hands quickly down his shirt just as she opens the door. The smirk on her face lets him know that he looks entirely too eager, but he instantly feels better when her slim arms wrap around him and she presses her body against him. He takes in her smell, and the feel of her warm skin, all too briefly he thinks as she lets go. “Hey” he says lamely, and he watches her smirk grow even more. He clears his throat awkwardly, before checking out her cut off shorts and cami. Christ on a cracker he thinks as he swallows slowly....how’s he supposed to get through this with her wearing that? His eyes take in the splendour of her legs, and he must be doing this for some time before he hears her openly laugh at him. His eyes take their time tracking up her body slowly, taking in the sunkissed colour of her skin before his eyes settle on her sweet face. He watches her smirk grow into a smile, before she quickly looks away. 

“You don’t look so bad yourself Peeta. Shall we go?” 

Picking his jaw up off the floor he hums his agreement, as he follows her out of the apartment dumbly, watching the curve of her behind through half closed eyes. Yeah...this is going to be hard! 

****************************************************************************  
It takes a while for Peeta to stabilise himself on the boat. It wouldn’t be so bad he thinks if only he could get his sea legs...well leg...be even better if he doesn’t tip the whole thing over. As he struggles to balance, he can feel more than see her laughter as his arms shoot out to try and hold himself upright before he gives up and plops himself down with a thud. Realising his ‘man-card’ is on the line, he reaches over the boat and scoops up a handful of water before flicking it at her. He lets out a smirk as he watches her scramble away quickly letting out an uncharacteristic squeal, and the oh so characteristic scowl. 

Peeta takes his time crawling to the very rear of the boat, wincing a little at the sharp stinging sensation this brings in his leg. As he settles himself down, he watches her lean back almost feline like, and bask in the sun. Between the two of them she is definitely the more tanned, and he licks his lips as he watches her skin absorb more sun and get just that little bit darker before his eyes. He stares at her open mouthed as she stretches out her long neck and tips her head back, letting her hair fall like a river behind her. His hands stay frozen for some time over the oars, day dreaming about the feel of her silken skin under his hands. “Might want to start rowing there Peeta” she eventually says, looking at him cheekily over her sunglasses, as he picks his jaw up and begins rowing across the lake. 

He rows them slowly across the small lake, relishing in the sun warming him through his clothes. The steady rock of the boat tugs across the water, and he feels somewhat mesmerized as he watches her lean back and trail a hand in the water. The ripple she causes spreads slowly across the stillness of the water, and disrupts small reeds and water lilies slightly. Her small smile is almost imperceptible, but he catalogues it in his memory as another time he has managed to generate a smile on his siren’s face.   
Once they’ve docked fairly haphazardly (and with entirely too much help from Katniss), he collects the blanket and picnic basket he’d packed in preparation for this date. He thinks about the sandwiches he’d painstakingly made that morning, using special bread he’d crafted during the week. Dark and nutty, it’d go perfect with the turkey; onion; mustard and mayo he’d crammed between the slices, handfuls of rocket between each slice. He’d cut up an assortment of vegetables to go with the home made hummus and bottles of sweet lemonade, and managed to squirrel a few pastries away from the bakery....okay so that was an exaggeration. He’d made her several pastries and mini cakes, but had only packed eight instead of the thirty he’d made. What?! He was an early riser! 

As he settles down beside her, he ignores the thrumming of his heart against his rib cage and begins conversations. They talk about everything and nothing as they eat the picnic slowly, and he finds himself staring into grey orbs that he’d be content to look at for the rest of his life.   
*********************************************************  
Its some hours later, and he gazes down at the chocolate waves that fan out across the blanket and his knee. She’d succumbed to a nap about an hour earlier, and he’d begun sketching an image of her on a napkin to pass the time. Sure he could’ve gone to sleep too but he’d much preferred to stay awake and enjoy every second of this date. He’d never known it be like this before. Never known a woman to make him laugh so much, and blush. To think hard about things yet not take himself so seriously. She challenged him, but she excited him too. And as for attraction...well let’s just say he was proud that he didn’t make himself a bumbling idiot all the time. The dreams, heck even the day dreams, he’d had about the two of them – they were enough to make him want to visit church and repent. He found himself sketching her lips countless times. Her eyes framed with her thick lashes every day. 

He watches her closely as she rouses herself, and those brilliant orbs open slowly to reveal their silvery storms. He can pinpoint the moment she becomes a little embarrassed that her head is resting on his knee, and he smiles at her softly, willing her to know that it’s alright. As she sits up and orientates herself, he can’t help himself. He leans forward, and traces his large hand across the soft peach like texture of her face. As her perfect lips round out in an O, he takes in the nature around them and the setting sun before he takes a taste of her. He drinks in her lips, her soft breaths and the wonderful smell coming from her skin and hair. As the kiss becomes more bold, he runs his other hand down her back and pulls her into his lap. Unconsciously she settles her legs either side of him, as he applies just a fraction more pressure to bring her body closer to his. 

He loses himself in that kiss, and can only feel. He feels a slight clamminess to her back, no doubt from the hot sun that has bared down on them all afternoon. He feels the little puffs of air she lets out as they close and open their mouths to each other, giving and taking simultaneously. He feels the way her chest shudders against his as she drags in air, and the way her hips rock against his lap softly. Through the khakis he can feel the stiffness of the denim cut offs she wears, and the seam that makes its way directly down the middle of her pants. It rubs against him persistently, in small circles that drag and rub back and forth and back and forth. As he stiffens unconsciously, he feels her hair spread across his face and those delicate little nipples of hers pebble against his chest. 

It’s then that he notices his sense of sound has returned. He hears her song, twittering soft like a bird. The small little sighs she lets escape whenever their lips aren’t totally occupied sound like a symphony to him. He’s so occupied with her mouth, that he doesn’t notice his hands have left her face and back and travelled down to her rounded cheeks. Each handful feels firm yet soft, and he squeezes her gently as he drags her over his centre again and again. The movement is unconscious, but when his moans begin to join hers he realises this is not the first date he wants them to have. As much as his body is craving this, craving her, he doesn’t want this to happen here...at least not really. Steeling his resolve, he slows her movements and swallowing her huff of disdain; he leans his head forward and rests it gently against her collarbone. 

After dragging one, two, three deep breaths in he finally looks up into the eyes of the woman who has rendered him speechless. His fingers trace her face softly and he tries to smooth out the slight scowl on her face. “Katniss...” he finally gets out, “...Peeta” she answers back defiantly. He chuckles softly, and gathers her closure to him, hands rubbing up and down her arms to coax her closure to him. “I want you. I want you so much, but I’ve got to do this right” he placates softly. It takes her a few moments before she lays against him softly, and snuggles closer to his neck to hide her embarrassed face. He holds her gently against him, before slips out of his arms softly, leaving a look of devastation on his face. But he needn’t have despaired, she flips around and settles between his open legs, looking out across the water as the sun makes it descent in the sky. He feels her sigh softly, as his arms settle on her slightly exposed midriff. "It's beautiful" she murmurs, the words flowing away on the breeze. 

"It really is" he responds, arms tightening around her.


	15. Dates and Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So now that our favourite couple are dating, just how are those kisses?

It’s been many weeks since their successful first date, and Peeta was soaring high. Work was going brilliantly – so well in fact that he rarely had any leftovers to take home and more often than not found himself going home only to start up the oven again! But he’d take that any day over the bakery not being a success. He needed it to do well not only for the financial aspect, but for the confidence he found in being a success, something she’d never thought he’d be. Then there was Katniss....gosh Katniss. Who would have thought that someone as brilliant as her would want to be with him? He’d spent years with her in his mind, and if he’s honest his heart, and he never thought he would have the opportunity to see her again – let alone date her! 

Peeta thinks back on the date they had a few nights ago, impromptu sure, but getting ice cream and walking the long way back to the apartment certainly made his otherwise busy week. There’s just something about her that makes him slow down and appreciate the present, instead of being solely focused on the future. He remembers her taking her time picking an ice cream flavour, savouring each morsel she tasted before settling on a butter pecan mix. They’d walked lazily around the park, and sat down on a bench people watching. He’d watched her from the corner of her eye as her tongue lashed out across the creaminess above the cone; taking small methodical licks intermixed with long swipes of her tongue, and shifted himself slightly on the bench. Over the past few weeks of getting to know her, he’d come to expect moments like this. In all fairness it wasn’t something she’d done on purpose, she was the type of woman that was unconsciously sexy, which made it even harder to resist. Coupled with the little moans she let out, let’s just say that he had more than enough ammunition after their dates to keep him company in the shower...the bed...heck even the hall way after some of those goodnight kisses.   
He tries not to think about the way he’d kissed her at her door that very evening. Or the way he had pushed her back into the wood and canvassed her skin with his body. He hardly knew where she started and he begun with the way they clung to each other. His thigh had made it between her legs and although he wasn’t exactly clear headed, he was certain he could feel the heat coming from her core. He’d never regretted taking it slow so much in his life. 

After he’d managed to convince her to go into her apartment and wished her a good night, he’d spent such a long time in the shower trying to work out his frustration. He was sure by this point he was being way beyond gentlemanly and as far as Finn was concerned if he didn’t use it he’d lose it, but he wanted it to be perfect so much. Katniss wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met, and now he was getting to truly know her she was even more interesting than his young mind could ever have perceived. She was funny, she was caring, she was exciting and lord was she a mystery. He couldn’t wait to spend his life peeling back layer after layer and exploring more of her exquisite self. 

Which is why on a seemingly boring date or laundry and sweet tea with pastries he should find it funny that he has her trussed up against a dryer, trying his damndest to reveal another layer. Her little vest top is askew as his hand strokes the skin around her rib cage, and her hands twist and turn in his hair every which way. She moans, he moans and the dryer behind them bangs and turns while they take turns devouring each others’ mouths. He takes a small break from her clever little tongue and nuzzles the peach soft skin of her jaw. He peppers little kisses here and there, before turning to focus on her neck. Her whimpers egg on his pursuit, and being more bold than usual he finds his thumb stroking her breast. At first the touch his soft like a butterfly wing, but as her body contorts he finds more confidence and runs it across her nipple. As he feels it stiffen he sighs and can’t help it – he has to taste it. 

His lips drag down her chest he moves the vest down slightly, before kissing over one breast slowly. Her pants come quicker, and he finds that her smooth leg rises up his calf, shifting his basketball shorts up and creating a wake of goose bumps in its wake. He eases his knee in between her thighs and within seconds his other hand hooks around her hips, encouraging her to rub against him. He’s sure he’s moaning against her skin as he manages to drag her bra down enough to finally release her nipple, and immediately sets about tasting, nipping, teasing it as much as he can in the confines of her vest. The shrill cries she lets out send his head dizzy, and finds it harder to breathe as her hands tug his hair harder. His hips thrust against her weakly seeking friction, something, anything to try and ease the pain that’s building between his legs. He lavishes his tongue around her nipple before sucking it up into the hollow of his mouth and nipping the end here and there. Her skin tasted of vanilla and lavender he decides, sweet, subtle, succulent – he could feast on her all day and never tire of the taste. Just as he feels her breathing get really deep, he hears laughter behind them.  
“Well well....should I come back later or is this a free show for all?” 

Peeta’s head flicks up quickly, but he doesn’t fully turn not wanting to expose Katniss to this stranger. He can feel the embarrassment make its way across her face and down her chest as she moves sharply to cover herself, tugging the vest up and over her chest. 

“Get out Marvel” she says, voice surprisingly firm considering it was a few seconds ago he had her trembling. 

“Hey it’s a public area kitten, and I’m pretty sure your uncle won’t like you amusing the tenants in his laundry room” 

As her head ducks down by his neck Peeta ignores his excited state to face the intruder. He sees scruffy blonde hair, coupled with expensive clothes and smells far too much expensive aftershave. He doesn’t mean to judge, but he can already tell that he won’t like the other tenant, and doesn’t feel all too bad when he says, “With all due respect dude, piss off”. 

Katniss chuckles into his neck, as Peeta watches Marvel’s face contort and turn varying colours before he hisses as he turns around and walks out. As he does, Katniss’ laugh gets louder and she holds on to the scruff of his top as he laughs with her. 

“You kiss your mother with that mouth Mellark?” she asks coyly. 

“Nope”...he says elongating the ‘p’ “just you” he says before he resumes to doing what he does best, kissing her senseless. Instead of the earlier heated kiss, these kisses are a bit less passion filled and more tentative. Although he’d have loved to continue what they were doing, he knows that the middle of the laundry room is hardly the most romantic place to make her come for the first time. He thinks on this hard as he nuzzles her neck and slows down their kiss. He knows that she’s getting just as frustrated as him but he wants to, he has to do this right. In that moment he makes a decision, “Katniss”

“Hmmmm” she murmurs in response, her hands playing idly in her hair.

“I’d like to take you out on Friday”

“Hmmmm” she murmurs, a small smile making its way across her face. 

“Is that a yes?” he questions, feeling a little shy.

“Hmmmm” she answers, before pulling him down for another heated kiss. It was only as they separated from the kiss some time later that Peeta finally noticed that neither of them had finished their washing.


	16. Dates Encore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lovely Peet finds another way to make his siren sing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so sorry I have been away for ages - I've just not been inspired to write very much, but I wanted to try and wrap this story up and try writing something new. 
> 
> Warning - a little bit more adult content here
> 
> xo

He’s not stressing, nope, not one bit. Aaah who is kidding he thinks as he sweats through yet another shirt as he tries to simultaneously stir the stew, check the buns and randomly tidy his apartment. Unfortunately he’d left the bakery later than he’d intended due to a sick Thresh, and he found himself rushing around trying to complete all of the lock down steps. He’s pretty sure that he’s forgotten something, but he can’t focus on that as he tries to get himself ready for their date. 

It’d only been two days since he last saw Katniss, but he was certain he was having withdrawal symptoms. He missed everything about her, her scowl, her smiles and the way her eyes crinckled up slightly at the corners if it was genuine. He missed her smell, her soft skin and the way her small little hand mapped out his flesh every time they kissed. It was time to face it, he had it bad! He shakes his head at the thought as he fluffs out his pillows for probably the fifth time since he’s been home. Although he hasn’t brought a dining table yet, he knows she won’t mind eating on the sofa using the coffee table. They aren’t formal people he decides, smiling at the thought that he’s now referring to them as a ‘they’ instead of individuals. 

He hears her tentative knock on the door, and he hightails it to the door to stop her from waiting. She’s got a 6 pack of beer in her hands and practically thrusts it at him as she walks into his apartment. He watches her as she fluidly moves around his space, and realises that she looks good in his apartment – he wonders if it’d be inappropriate to ask her to stay, always. As she moves towards the kitchen, he watches her sniff out the smell of the prune and lamb stew that has been simmering pretty much since he got home. He’s made some wild rice to go with it, alongside the cheese buns she loves so much. For desert he’s made tiny chocolate sponges with liquid centres, flavoured with just a hint of chilli. For a moment he thinks about how he’s going to appreciate licking the flavour out of her mouth later, and he has to steer his thoughts away from this quickly before he gets excited. Having her here in his apartment is such a calming, yet exciting experience. She brings him a sense of peace and contentment he has never known, not with the chaos in the house he grew up in at least. But she also excites him like no other. Not even when he is painting does he feel this mixture of emotions. It’s gotta be love he decides, and he’s not sure yet if that fills him with hope..or dread. 

*********************************************************

After dinner has been consumed, she had two portions of the stew (success) they kick back on the sofa for a break before desert. He loves the fact that she nestles in next to him, carving a little nook for herself between the curve of his legs. All too soon however, the electric pull is back between them and before he can talk about what was on his mind earlier, he is lost in her. The way her tongue laves against his own eradicates any thought he has, and who is he to deny her? 

It’s only after some time that he realises his phone is ringing. He misses the call, but notices that there are three other missed calls, before his phone jumps to life in his hand. Answering it quickly he sees it’s Finn, “What’s up man, kind of busy here.”

“Dude I just jogged past the bakery, did you mean to leave the door unlocked?” 

“What? Shit!” Peeta says, sitting up immediately dislodging a tangled up Katniss from his arms. He spends a few seconds talking to Finnick, agreeing that he’d stay there until Peeta can make it. Sitting up properly he scrubs his hands down his face, annoyed at his stupid mistake, before he turns to his siren who’s staring at him with a very deep frown.   
“I’m so sorry to do this Katniss, I need to go lock up the bakery”

“It’s okay, I’ll come with you”

“No no you don’t have to do that. Stay, I’ll be back in no time at all”

“Peeta it’s okay. The sooner we go the sooner we get back and enjoy desert, right?” How’d he get so lucky he thinks, as she pulls him to his feet before sliding her delicate little feet into her slip on ballerina pumps. 

As they reach the bakery, Finn gets up off the outside chair and nods in Katniss’ direction. “Hello Kitty Kat’ he says, and waits for the characteristic scowl to make its way across her face.

“Thanks for waiting Finn, I honestly don’t know how I left without locking up”.

“It’s cool man, you would’ve done the same for me. Anywho you crazy kids, I need to finish my jog. Don’t look this good without putting a load of effort in, am I right?” he smirks, before heading off in the direction of his apartment. 

************************************************************

After Peeta triple checks everything in the bakery, he notices that Katniss has lit a candle in the kitchen. She’s sitting on one of the high stools, one of her feet wrapped delicately around the leg. As he approaches her, he wraps his arms around her from behind, soaking in her embrace. It’s then that he notices she has the chocolate desert in front of her on a plate, coupled with a fork. He watches her as she cuts into the cake, the middle oozing out slowly and letting the pungent rich chocolate and spicy chilli permeate the air. She tastes a little bit herself, before she offers the remainder to him. Before he can fully absorb the flavour, she twists and kisses him unexpectedly. Her small tongue makes its way into his mouth as she chases the taste of sweet chocolate and sharp chilli. He doesn’t know who starts it, but he finds that his shirt has somehow made its way to the floor, and he is ravishing her soft neck as he tugs at her top. As his fingers stroke her warm flesh he feels goose bumps form, and he chases them with his tongue until he is once again feasting on her nipples. 

The song she lets out as he tastes and tastes her are so beautiful, he’s certain that he could freeze this moment and stay in it forever. Unconsciously one of his hands trails further, and he pushes her knees open. He rubs her over her clothes softly at first, giving her the opportunity to say no. Instead, she encourages him as she rocks against his hand and he takes his time mapping her out. His lips seek hers out as he continues to touch her gently, relishing in the sounds he is able to draw out of her. Eventually he builds enough courage from her moans to undo the zipper, before slowly easing his fingers inside of her. And she feels like everything he’s imagined and more. Warm, wet and tight as she hugs his fingers repeatedly. 

All too soon she begins to buck against his hand unabashed, as her hands reach out to hold onto his forearms and keep herself upright on the stool. Their kiss breaks as she pants into his mouth, and the molten gaze she gives him sets him on fire. He can’t even begin to feel bad that they’re in his bakery, desecrating the stool.   
As her stomach tightens, he continues to stroke her, determined to bring her to completion. He feels the way her body stiffens, as she chases her release, fingernails biting into his arms. Her moans are getting louder and he can’t help but join her too. He wants it; he needs to see her fall apart for him. Within seconds her back stiffens, and she yelps out holding his hand in place. Her body leaks against his hand, and only when she pulls his hand slightly does he retract. 

He kisses every inch of her skin that he can reach, before he licks her release off his hand. He watches the flush spread across her body as he does that, and knows that in the future he will be able to make his siren songbird sing so much louder.


End file.
